The Chronology of Him
by bellamywinchester
Summary: It's one thing to resist him. It's entirely another to resist who he used to be – and keep her feelings for them both straight.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys!

This is a new multi chapter I'm starting based on the time travel trope. I got the idea and really wanted to do it but I'm not into much period stuff or history at all usually so please forgive me for any historical inaccuracies.

In terms of Klaroline's relationship this story is set post-407, pre-409; TVD's plot is irrelevant.

Disclaimer: I've been told the plot of this story seems like crack fic. There are some humorous elements but if you know me you know it is gonna be mostly hardcore angst, lol, so you've been warned.

Lastly, huge thanks to everyone on Tumblr for the encouragement and to the FF Dream Team, Erika and Kaitlyn. I feel pretty sure I'd never get anything written/finished up without y'all. And an extra huge thank you to Erika for my amazing cover!

Ok, that's it, let's get to it! Please tell me what you thought – I have a few chapters written and reviews will definitely serve as encouragement for more.

Enjoy :)

* * *

"Bonnie! Oh my god!"

She rushed over but it was too late.

With a small gasp of disbelief she bent down to pick up the item on the floor – the last piece of her friend.

* * *

"What the hell did you do to her?"

Klaus blinked.

"Caroline, love, it's six o' clock in the morning and I've had a week full of dastardly deeds. Please be a tad more specific."

She glared before storming past him and into his home as he slowly pulled a sleepy hand over his face.

"Bonnie. Just now. This thing."

He removed his hand to find her holding up some sort of chain with an obscenely large and unseemly bronze medallion hanging from it.

"What is that?"

"You tell me."

Having just rolled out of bed two minutes ago, Klaus was not in the mood. So, he did the most rational thing his sleep-addled mind could think of – casually he stuck his hands into the pockets of his pajama pants and rocked back on his heels, staring solidly back at the blonde.

The silence heavy, eventually she huffed in frustration.

"Bonnie disappeared into thin air like five minutes ago. _Thin air_ , Klaus. I watched it happen with my own eyes."

Eyes which were currently going a little crazy. Convinced by this and her description of the situation, Klaus took a step forward, intrigued, his gaze straying back to the pendant.

"Where did you get that from?"

"Bonnie came over with it then she dropped it while she was busy vanishing."

"Ok," he nodded, still advancing. "And what precisely does this have to do with me? Or are you simply accustomed to blaming me for anything bad that happens in this town?"

She glared for a good long moment before biting the answer out through her teeth.

"Right before she disappeared, Bonnie said _your mother_ 's name."

"Esther," he murmured, and she nodded hesitantly.

He held out his hand.

"Let me see that."

She raised a brow.

"Do you know what it is, or not?"

"A closer look would help me determine that."

"Seriously."

With an eye roll she extended her arm, placing the medallion squarely in the centre of his palm.

For the quickest of seconds she hesitated in removing her hand, and his eyes flitted to meet hers.

Then her hand was gone and they both pretended nothing had happened.

Which became easy to do when they looked around.

"Klaus… where the hell are we?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh my god. Did we just disappear too?"

It had been a minute and Klaus still wasn't saying anything which meant she was seriously beginning to panic.

If you applied the word 'beginning' loosely, that was.

They were standing in the middle of a field with no buildings as far as the eye could see and nothing she could distinguish as being even vaguely familiar. Everything looked dusty and from where she stood she saw something that looked vaguely like a road, if roads were made of sand and stones.

Klaus was doing a slow three-sixty and dread immediately shot into her stomach when she heard him mutter a soft 'Oh no' to himself.

"Klaus, where are we?"

After a few seconds he turned back to her, looking uncomfortable.

"Don't panic."

"Why would I panic? We're just, _somehow_ , a few hours outside of town, right?"

"Not precisely."

"Ok… well, spit it out."

With a long sigh he spoke. "This is an hour or so outside the village I grew up in."

She frowned. "Klaus, that doesn't make sense. The 'village' you grew up in _is_ Mystic Falls."

"Not at the moment."

"Wait, you're saying…"

Her eyes widened and all at once breathing became difficult. Immediately she dropped, placing her hands on her knees as she mentally reminded herself to breathe.

Klaus lowered himself beside her, gently rubbing her back.

"I did warn you about the panicking."

"Klaus, I'm in the year 1013 and I'm wearing skinny jeans, how the hell am I not supposed to panic right now?"

"It's not actually 1013 – "

"Seriously!"

He visibly bit back a chuckle and she glared.

"Can you just, like, give me _some_ good news? Like my hair looks good, or they actually invented curling irons way earlier than recorded?"

He smirked. "Your hair does look fantastic, but there is actually further good news."

She frowned. "Which is?"

"You said Bonnie had said Esther's name before she disappeared, meaning my mother must know something about that medallion."

"Ok, so?"

"So, we'll simply go and ask her."


	3. Chapter 3

For the third time in as many minutes she snuck a peak at him.

"So this really doesn't freak you out?"

"Seeing the entirety of my family alive and well – why would that bother me?"

They'd approached the 'road', he'd picked a direction, and now they were walking in what she guessed was the direction of ancient day Mystic Falls.

"Because half of them hated you, you hated them and, oh right, the entire situation is just _seriously weird_ in general."

His jaw was clenched but there was no other reaction.

"And… your brother – "

"That's enough."

She swallowed, wondering whether to push or not. It would be easy enough to inform him that he didn't get to order her around like that, but she also didn't want to press on anything that might still be sensitive.

"Well, can you at least tell me about your family, so I'll be prepared."

"We won't be staying long, that won't be necessary."

"How do you know we won't be staying long? Do you have some kind of special measuring stick that tells you for how long magical medallions will make you stay in a specific time period?" she asked with her most sarcastic condescending tone.

He shot her a look and she glared right back, causing him to heave a sigh.

"Elijah and Rebekah you know – "

"Elijah not so much, but go on."

"My mother and father – "

"Both awful."

"Kol and Finn – "

"Didn't really meet either of those."

"And… Henrik."

Again her gaze lifted to his face but he was still keeping a cool façade, or at least the coolest façade a barefoot man in pajama pants one thousand years in the past could manage, anyway.

"What was – _is_ – he like?"

He didn't answer for a long moment and when he did it was abrupt.

"Kind, gentle; very little like the rest of my family."

"You two were close."

His head whipped to her. "Why would you say that?"

She took a deep breath before answering.

"I know about what happened – that you two were out together when you shouldn't have been. I figure you must have been really close if you let him convince you into that."

"It wasn't his fault."

"I know, that… that's not what I meant."

They trudged along for another few minutes and she wondered if they were close to his village yet, followed by wondering whether they'd gone far enough to warrant her asking him if they were close.

Her mouth made a completely different decision.

"How old was he?"

He didn't look at her.

"Eleven."

She nodded, understanding tugging heavily at her heart.

She couldn't imagine how awful it must have felt to be held responsible for the death of a sibling, never mind one so young. And by the way he was reacting now she didn't doubt that he held himself responsible too.

"You must be nervous to see him again," she tried.

"Actually I'm trying not to think about any of it. However, it's not going particularly well since you continue to bring it up."

Guiltily she swallowed, her mind reeling for something else for them to talk about.

A strange pit had begun in her stomach that made her far more uneasy about this entire situation than she'd already been, and she knew why it was there: he was shutting her out and it would likely only get worse once they got to his family. All the progress they'd managed to make would be erased – she found herself thinking about the way he'd laughed so openly while teasing her about her Miss Mystic application not that long ago. She didn't want to lose that side of him.

"I'm sorry," she found herself whispering.

For pushing or his brother, she wasn't really sure. All she knew was that she'd felt the need to say it.

A short silent pause passed between them before she gasped loudly.

"Oh my god! Does this mean there's gonna be two of you?"


	4. Chapter 4

Finally she'd managed to draw an expression from him: a wince then a pained frown followed by a long sigh.

"I would assume so."

"Oh my god," she muttered, mostly to herself. "Wait, how are you gonna explain that?"

He shrugged. "The only logical way – twins."

She snorted. "I seriously doubt that's gonna go over well."

They started up a hill.

"Well I think it will be more readily accepted than time travel."

"Good point."

Klaus got to the top of the hill before her, coming to a halt, and she frowned as she caught up to him. He was wearing a strange expression as he stared out across the view, and she hesitantly turned to look too.

"Wow," she breathed.

She knew Mystic Falls like the back of her hand so she could roughly recognise the shape of the town, but it looked alien now, with ramshackle houses divided by what she supposed to be packs and then a cluster of houses in the distance that looked slightly more modern.

"Welcome to Stedet Mystiske Fall, Caroline."

Her head whipped to him with a small hopeful smile on her face and he nodded affirmatively.

"The Place of Mystical Falls."

"Oh my god," she grinned. "Right, the falls would have been here already."

"Yes and they actually were considered quite mystical then; they were rumoured to have healing properties. Unfortunately I never found out for myself, my father despised and thus banned anything superstitious."

She shot him a look. "Seriously? The guy married to a witch was sceptical about some magical water?"

He drew a long breath. "And that is your first lesson about Mikael."

Feeling awkward, she chose not to say anything. She didn't want to get in the middle of the infamous Klaus and Mikael feud. From what she'd heard it was highly dysfunctional and ran crazy deep – the root of which she was about to step into, she suddenly realised.

"Ok, well, let's go," she smiled at him.

He took a moment to draw strength from her radiance, aware of the sheer force of emotional turmoil that awaited him mere miles away, then nodded.

"Let's go."

* * *

Ok, that's it for the moment :) Please let me know what you thought and I'll likely update tomorrow

xx


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you for the responses! As promised...

* * *

They took the long way around the village.

Klaus had pointed out that going through would mean questions from the locals before they even got to his family and she hadn't disagreed. Unfortunately it meant ten extra minutes of walking and dodging the locals' defences that Klaus was luckily familiar with.

But finally they made it, and stood a little way away from Klaus' house.

If Rebekah inside, plaiting her hair by a window, hadn't told Caroline that, she could've taken it from the way Klaus froze the moment they came within range of it.

Currently the blonde's attention was split between worrying about him and being entirely fascinated by her surroundings, including the people.

"Next time is your turn, Niklaus!"

The voice was incredibly familiar and she turned to see… Elijah walking up from behind them. Except he was wearing a weird leather tunic thing the Elijah she knew wouldn't be caught dead in, and his hair hung down his back.

She wasn't the only one surprised. Elijah dropped the bucket of water when he saw her and for a second she ridiculously thought that he'd recognised her when his gaze roamed her body, and her cheeks pinked as she realised she was dressed in absolutely nothing that could even remotely pass for something from this century.

She'd already removed her watch along the way but clearly her cleavage-revealing top and tight jeans were too much for the Original. Next his gaze slid to Klaus and he looked even more confused.

"Niklaus, what are you doing here, who is this?" Once again his gaze roamed his form. "What are you wearing? And what has happened to your hair?"

Her head whipped to Klaus and for the first time since she'd known him, the Original looked tongue-tied.

Her and Elijah were both staring at him and it was beginning to get awkward so she surreptitiously elbowed him. Immediately Klaus came to life.

"Actually, I'm not Niklaus."

Elijah's frown deepened considerably. "What game are you playing, brother?"

"None, I can assure you. I've travelled a very long way to come and visit you. My name is… William."

Literally holding her breath, she turned to Elijah to see if he was buying this. He looked dumbfounded.

Klaus continued though. "You called me your brother so I suppose you must be related to my twin, Niklaus."

"Twin?" Elijah gasped.

Caroline held back a giggle. This was so much the plot of a bad movie that it was literally only working because televisions hadn't been invented yet. She would've totally made a Parent Trap reference if it wouldn't have been lost on both these men.

"Yes. May I speak with our mother, please?"

Elijah blinked. Then his back straightened further and he took a step closer.

"Why am I to believe you are who you say you are?"

"Well, if you would fetch my mother I believe she could verify matters. Furthermore, I do believe this does some of the convincing," he smirked, pointing to his own face.

Caroline rolled her eyes a little. Klaus was clearly beginning to have fun with this.

Elijah took a breath, clearly annoyed with Klaus' point. Then he caught sight of her again.

"Who is this?"

"This… is my bride to be, Caroline."

Immediately she froze, in complete shock at the words he'd just uttered.

"Why is she wearing garments of torture?"

Klaus turned to look at her, eyes wide as he assessed her outfit, and she could tell from his face that he had no way to explain that.

The question hung heavy in the thick silence and eventually it was so awkward she found herself speaking.

"Roadside kinkery…?"

Both men shot her looks and her blush only got hotter.

Mercifully Klaus looked back at his brother.

"Please fetch my mother, Esther."

Elijah gave them another once-over before nodding with a sigh. "Very well, I will gather my family."

He passed them and Klaus shouted out.

"No, just Esther!"

Elijah stopped then turned. "I will be collecting my entire family."

With that he walked off and Klaus cursed.

"Pompous prick."

Glaring, she turned to face him.

"Why the hell did you just call me your bride to be?"

He looked surprised by her outburst then amused. "You're a woman travelling alone with me, love, and considering I'm not a woman myself I couldn't very well say you were my handmaiden – what else was I supposed to say?"

She tried to think of something but came up empty so she huffed instead.

His lips turned into a mischievous smirk. "I would love to know what 'roadside kinkery' is, though."

She gasped. "Shut up! I didn't know what to say either!"

He laughed. "And _roadside kinkery_ was the first thing that came to mind?"

"Stop saying it," she warned through ground teeth.

"Roadside kinkery," he grinned.

"Swear to god, bring it up one more time and I'll use this handy little device I brought with me from the future called a _cellphone,_ and take tons of photos of whatever your past self's hair looks like. If it's anything like Elijah's I'm sure Damon will be _really_ interested."

That shut him up.


	6. Chapter 6

Hi all! Thanks so much for the reviews and messages, they're such great motivation! I'm trying to stay three chapters ahead so they make me write and thus update.

This is another short one but the next one is over a thousand words long and then, I think, the two after that. So they won't all be tiny :)

Let me know what you thought so I can get chapters out more quickly :)

xx

* * *

Elijah hadn't been kidding when he said he would be collecting the family.

First she saw him speak to Rebekah who looked out with a frown, followed by members of the household slowly sifting outside, all looking very different since the time she'd last seen them together – on the Mikaelson staircase.

"So how exactly is this gonna work?"

It took Klaus a second but he managed to drag his gaze from his family.

"Well, ideally I would have gone straight to my mother and forced her to return us home. Unfortunately now we're going to have to stick to our stories until I can speak with her alone."

She nodded. "Ok."

"And Caroline?"

She turned to face him and he frowned, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"You won't be able to speak like that."

"Like what?"

"'Gonna', 'Ok'," he pointed out.

She scoffed. "Klaus, I'm not gonna use _Ye Olde English_."

He smirked then shrugged. "It might be fun."

She stared at him for a few seconds before sighing, smiling concedingly.

"Fine." Looking over her shoulder, she bit at her lip. "Guess we better go meet your family, huh?"

He followed her line of vision and sighed heavily.

"I suppose so."

She nodded, spinning to walk toward the Mikaelsons, but she was held back, and she turned to see Klaus holding her hand, stopping her.

For a second she just stared at his hand holding hers, taking note of the way his long artist fingers felt gripping hers.

Then, nervously, she met his eyes.

"Thank you," he said sincerely, and she frowned in confusion. "For prompting me, just now."

"Oh," she breathed. "Yeah. Sure."

After debating with herself for a second, she stepped in close to him, thinking of his reactions when they'd spoken about Henrik and Mikael. This wasn't going to be easy for him. And the last thing she wanted was for him to think that he had to handle it all alone.

Their chests were almost touching when she stopped, trying not to think about the Mikaelson family's eyes on them.

Instead she looked up into his blue eyes, wildly searching her own.

"We're in this together."

His eyes widened vulnerably and she squeezed his hand reassuringly.

She'd known since the second they realised they were in the past that she would need him. And she had – in getting here and finding their way through the village without getting interrogated or killed.

She'd known she would need him but she hadn't realised, until seeing him silent before Elijah, that he needed her too. And she didn't know why, but she didn't want to let him down.

Klaus swallowed heavily then nodded.

They both took a few breaths before walking toward his family, fingers loosely intertwined.


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you so much for the reviews! It's really nice to get feedback, know what you guys are enjoying/looking forward to/would like to see :)

* * *

Klaus rushed out.

Except it wasn't Klaus. Well, it was. It looked just like him. Except his hair hung down to his shoulders (which, yeah – Damon totally would've been interested in) and he looked so… human. Not to mention the weirdness of seeing him in anything other than a Henley and jeans or a suit.

And then there were his eyes.

There was something so different behind them. She didn't understand it fully; she couldn't even describe it to herself, but if she had to pick a word it would be… innocence.

It was those eyes that were wide now as he looked at himself, a smile pulling at his lips.

"I very nearly thought it mere jest, only… Elijah does not make jests," he teased.

Kol burst into hearty laughter as Elijah shot them both disapproving looks, and Klaus stepped forward to observe his double.

To her Klaus' credit, he remained still; completely calm as he let the other study him.

After a thorough visual investigation he stuck out his hand.

"Niklaus."

Klaus nodded. "William."

After a half second of awkwardness stemming from Klaus' reluctance, the two men shook hands.

"I have waited a long time to meet you," Klaus lied.

The other him smiled, and it came so much lighter than she was used to seeing on that face.

"I wish I could say the same but, frankly, I had no idea you existed."

"We were separated at birth, as I was thought to be dead," Klaus explained, and she wondered how long he'd been making this story up for. "My mother found me and raised me as her own. We live a very long way away and I always promised myself that I would one day make the voyage to come meet my true family."

There were varying reactions from the group – she was watching them when she noticed Esther and who she assumed to be Mikael finally step out and join the group, looking slightly different shades of troubled.

She studied Mikael for a second, observing the loose curly dirty blond hair that went down to his sharp jawbone; the light stubble and moustache. There was something dark and unsatisfied about his eyes; disappointment creased into his forehead.

"Welcome!" Elijah greeted, and the human Klaus grinned.

Almost accidentally, his gaze finally slid to Caroline for the first time and she swore she heard his breath catch. A low resulting rumbled emanated from Klaus' throat as he stood beside her.

"And who is this?"

"My bride to be," Klaus all but growled whilst still somehow managing to keep a smile pasted on his face.

It occurred to her then that she had no idea if women were allowed to shake hands with men in this time so she froze entirely, before managing to say her name when she realised that Klaus had neglected to.

"Caroline."

He stared straight into her eyes and for a moment she thought, she was wrong – they were the same behind their eyes after all.

Then he dragged his gaze back to Klaus.

"Meet the rest of my family." Turning, he pointed to each relevant family member. "You've met Elijah… Kol, Rebekah, Finn, my father and mother, Mikael and Esther, and Henrik."

Looking at him quickly, she noticed Klaus' gaze linger on Henrik for a little longer but he seemed to shake himself out of it quickly.

She looked at the youngest sibling too, noting the way he looked a lot like Kol, minus the mischief embedded in his features. Henrik was fresh-faced and innocent, eyes adorably wide as he stared eagerly at the events unfolding before him.

"Thank you, Niklaus. It is lovely to meet you all. However, for the moment, I would very much like to speak with my mother, alone."

The human Klaus opened his mouth but Esther spoke authoritatively from behind him.

"Very well. The girl stays."

God, the woman was so not making a good second first impression with Caroline. She huffed but Klaus squeezed her hand a little before pulling her along in the direction Ester had gone.

She didn't make eye contact with the rest of the family as they left and soon they were in some kind of dark room and Esther stood in a corner lighting something. Remembering the story Elena had told after the Mikaelson Ball, she realised it was sage.

Esther turned and her eyes lit with anger when she saw Caroline there.

"I believe I said she was to stay behind."

"You did," Klaus recognised. "I simply don't take orders from you, and besides, what we have to say is pertinent to her."

Esther's jaw slackened a little and Caroline practically saw the light go off in her head as she realised she couldn't treat this man the way she did his doppelganger.

Still, she rose to her full height, clearly unaccustomed, due to her powers, to anyone treating her with such disrespect.

"And what is it you want to say to me?"

He smirked meanly. "Not too much."

Their hands broke from each other's as he reached into his pocket to retrieve the medallion. Caroline stuck both her hands into her jean's pockets as Klaus held the medallion up in front of Esther.

"I want to know what this is."

"My medallion!"

Eyes wide, she reached to grab it but Klaus quickly held it out of her reach.

"Tell me what it is."

Caroline was holding her breath. Not only did they really really need to go back home but she also needed to know how this thing worked so that she could help Bonnie in some way when they did get back.

Esther glared but after a minute of Klaus not letting up, she conceded.

"It was made by witches in the Old World who crafted it for me. It was meant to allow powers of time travel; however, I never…"

She drifted off as her eyes widened further than Caroline had ever seen anyone's eyes go.

Klaus' smile was cruel. "Figured it out, have you, Esther?"

"You're f-from the… future."

"That's correct. But that's not all we are."

Somehow she'd allowed herself to forget, but Klaus' statement reminded her – _they were vampires._

For the first time ever she was stronger than the entire Original family.

She was so drunk on this realisation that she almost missed the rest of the conversation.

"What does that mean?"

"That means, Esther, that if you cross me I am able to and will kill you – painfully."

For a moment Esther looked intimidated, fear behind her eyes. Then she drew a long breath and stepped closer, somehow managing to look down her nose at Klaus.

"Considering we have established that you are in fact my son, you are to treat me as such – are we understood, boy?"

Damn. Caroline wasn't even related to the woman, and _she_ got goosebumps.

Still she was kind of surprised when before her eyes she actually watched Klaus become humbled, his gaze immediately lowering respectfully.

From his heavy breathing and clenched jaw she could tell he hated it, though. Somehow his parents still had a hold on him he just couldn't seem to shake.

His voice was muted when he spoke.

"We need to return to our own time."

"Yes, you do."

Surprised, his eyes rose to hers again.

She bristled. "Your appearance here has caused questions I have no desire to answer, especially when they cast unjust aspersions on me."

Klaus gritted his teeth, clearly biting back a comment.

"Can you get us back home… _mother_?"

She shot him a glance before stepping back with a sigh. She leaned her palms onto a table as she thought.

"If the medallion does indeed work, as it seems it does, I will need a large amount of energy to charge it in order to cause it to work again." Breaking from her thoughts, she looked at them. "How did you get here?"

Finally Caroline had found her chance to say something.

"My friend, Bonnie, had it. I took it from her when she disappeared and when Klaus touched it it brought us both here."

Esther frowned. "Is your friend a witch?"

She almost laughed.

"A _Bennett_."

Esther shook her head in confusion, her eyes blank, and Caroline realised in annoyance that that didn't mean anything to Esther just yet.

"A really strong witch, from the strongest bloodline."

Nodding slowly, Esther looked at the wall again as she thought.

"She must have charged it herself then, unknowingly. It sent her to a poignant moment in her life and the trip itself must somehow have further imbibed it with a very strong, very large amount of magic, causing it to be expelled from her possession. Whereupon you took it and handed it to a witch's son."

Caroline looked at Klaus questioningly to find him already looking back at her.

"So you're saying it only works for witches or someone related to them?"

"I cannot know anything for sure. You have to understand that this type of magic is entirely unprecedented. The medallion was given to me in a spirit of jest."

"How will we get back?" Klaus spoke again.

"We will need a power source…" Esther thought then sighed, seeming relieved. "Three nights from now there will be a full moon. It should be more than sufficient if a single witch was able to charge the medallion."

Klaus nodded and Caroline felt panic rise in her stomach.

"Wait a minute, if _we're_ using the medallion to get back home, how is Bonnie going to?"

"If she is as powerful a witch as you say she is then I am sure she will establish a method. Now follow me before the family becomes suspicious of our lengthy talk."

With that she swept out of the room and Caroline huffed, folding her arms as she looked at Klaus.

"No offence, but your mom is a bitch."

He chuckled and outside she could hear Esther telling Rebekah to give Caroline some decent clothing.

Yip, definitely a bitch.


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you so so much for all the reviews! I've spent the past two days pretty much doing non-stop writing for this story. I'm really excited about where it's going and to get it out to you guys. As usual, the more reviews, the more I'm encouraged to edit and update faster :)

xx

* * *

Caroline looked around then down at herself once more.

She'd looked at what she was wearing about a million times and the room she stood in at least half as many times.

Initially she'd panicked, knowing she was entirely out of her comfort zone in this time period. But there was something worse about being dressed like she belonged here and being given a room. It was scarier.

And being this alone and isolated was definitely new. She was so used to having the ability to text any one of her friends if she felt lonely but here, well – she was pretty sure 1013 didn't have wifi.

All she had here was Klaus' pre-vampire and hopefully pre-crazy family that they were currently lying to and his mother, who had frozen them out.

And then there was him, of course. But there was danger to making the biggest villain back home her safe haven here. She couldn't let herself forget that, no matter how lonely she got.

A light knock sounded on the door and she almost jumped, she'd been so deep inside her own head.

"Come in," she called lightly, looking down at her dress again.

Her eyes widened when Klaus stepped in, dressed very similarly as the human version of himself had been – a linen shirt beneath a long leather vest along with leather pants and boots.

"Um."

He didn't seem much more coherent, silently allowing his eyes to roam her form, his jaw slightly slack.

"That bad, huh?" she winced.

It was seriously the plainest dress she'd ever worn, a burgundy piece of fabric that pretty much went straight from her shoulders down to her toes with no embellishments whatsoever. Oh, and sleeves.

He shook his head but it was another while till he spoke.

"On the contrary."

He took a step closer and she raised a brow, though she couldn't keep a small smile from her face.

"Seriously? I've never worn anything _less_ revealing."

He looked amused. "That's beside the point. It's just… fascinating seeing you dressed this way."

She met his eyes solidly for a moment before rolling hers and sighing.

"Whatever, weirdo." She gave him another once-over. "Are you wearing your 'twin brother''s clothes?"

She'd made the air quotes with her fingers and he rolled his eyes before sighing and dropping down onto what would serve as her bed.

"It only made sense, they fit perfectly, after all," he shrugged.

She smiled but it faded quickly and she sat down beside him.

"It isn't long after this, is it?"

He didn't speak for a long while before looking at her, his eyes wondrous.

"How did you know?"

She looked away.

"Guessed, mostly. After your mom said the medallion sends you to a poignant moment in your life."

He sighed. "It's the next full moon, the one after the one that Esther plans to send us home with."

"Do…" She drew a breath. "Do you think we could change it?"

He was silent till she met his eyes again.

"If Henrik doesn't die, my parents don't turn us into vampires, I die in a few measly human years, and we…"

"Never meet," she realised.

He nodded and his eyes burned into hers so much that she was forced to look away again.

Then she smiled as she remembered everything she'd ever read or watched involving time travel.

"Or everything stays the same and in some alternate timeline things just go differently."

She turned to smile hopefully at him but lost her breath when she saw the way he was looking at her.

Like not even that would be enough.

As she looked down at the clay ground, something occurred to her.

She cleared her throat. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes."

"Why William?" She looked at him again. "Why'd you choose William as your fake name?"

His forehead wrinkled. "It was the first name that came to me."

She searched his eyes, wondering when she'd become so good at telling when he was lying.

"Speaking of names," he began, "we should probably decide on what to call my double."

She took a breath, nodding. It wasn't a bad idea.

"I vote Innocent Klaus."

He stared at her solidly for a long while before letting out a breath.

"'Past me' should do fine."

"Fine," she sighed. "Lame, but fine – he's you so you get to name him. But just know that if this situation were reversed we'd be calling the other me Alterline or something awesome."

He broke out into an adorable smile, shaking his head in amusement.

"Duly noted."

She smiled too then looked around with a little sigh.

"So, we're really staying here, huh?"

He imitated her actions then frowned. "It would appear so. For two entire nights."

"Well… maybe it won't be that bad."

"You've spent five minutes with my mother and you already hate her," he pointed out.

She couldn't help a grin.

"True, she's not exactly… _cuddly_ , but I'm not really used to cuddly moms either. And besides, if I can deal with spending forced time with you then I'm pretty sure I can handle three days with your family."

She winked and he chuckled.

"Don't pretend you didn't have fun."

With a smile she couldn't hide, she rolled her eyes. "You forced me to go on a date with you, whatever fun I may or may not have had is irrelevant."

He smiled, seemingly enjoying himself.

"Is that why you didn't call after?"

Caroline scoffed. "The guy's supposed to call, not the girl."

He angled his body to her with a raised brow, that perpetual smirk in place.

"Then you wanted me to call?"

Realising she'd fallen right into the trap he'd set her, her jaw dropped speechlessly, and his smirk widened.

She was still floundering for a reply when there came a knock on the corrugated steel bedroom door, seconds before it was flung open.

Kol's shaggy dark hair hung to his jaw but his mouth was stretched into his trademark mischievous grin, his eyes shining. She swore the guy was either always high on life or just constantly mentally working out ways to get up to no good. Possibly both.

"Dinnertime, lovebirds."

Klaus turned to smile at his brother.

"We'll be out in a minute, mate."

Kol did an eyebrow dance, to which she rolled her eyes, before leaving.

"You forgot Ye Old English."

He chuckled. "You realise it's no easier for me than you?"

"What I _know_ is that only _one_ of us is missing texting."

"Yes, well, perhaps this experience will prove instructive – civilisation did in fact exist before emojis."

She couldn't help it, she giggled.

"I can't believe you know what emojis are."

"I'm old, not dead, Caroline."

She raised a pointed eyebrow and after a second they both burst into laughter.

Vampire jokes never got old.

Eventually their laughter wound down and she spoke.

"We should probably go out there and face _the non-dead you_."

He nodded and she stood, about to leave, when he caught her arm.

She looked at his hand and he quickly let her go before standing too.

"Just don't forget to refer to him as Niklaus and me as William."

She hesitated, still thinking of his hand on her, then nodded.

"This is seriously weird."

"Agreed. Unfortunately Esther is our method of returning home, and she requires us to maintain our aliases for the sake of her rickety marriage."

She raised an eyebrow but he avoided her gaze and on instinct she looped her arm through his and put on her most posh voice.

"Then let's go to dinner, _William_."


	9. Chapter 9

Nothing makes me happier than waking up to a bunch of reviews and consequently here is another chapter. It could probably do with another edit but I think it's time for bed and also my eyes are doing that thing where my laptop's screen light feels like a million lit globes shining into my eyeballs giving me an enormous headache (am I alone in this? It's a real problem).

Hope you enjoy, and lemme know :)

* * *

Caroline swallowed, trying really hard to stop thinking about what she could be chewing.

As they'd gone around the village earlier she'd so many poor animals strung up and the thought of eating one of those poor deer or rabbits made her really uncomfortable. So she tried not to think about it.

Unfortunately when she wasn't concentrating on the food it meant she was concentrating on the atmosphere and that made her ten times more uncomfortable. Nobody had said a word since the food had been laid down and there was no doubt that it was because of their presence.

She felt a particularly weird vibe coming from the head of the table, where Mikael and Esther sat stiffly.

From what Klaus had said earlier she gathered that their presence was grating on his parents' relationship.

She hadn't understood at first but as lethal looks had been exchanged between Mikael, Esther and Klaus, she realised what it was. 'William' existing meant Esther had given birth to two babies and never told Mikael that – in his eyes the death of a son had been kept from him.

So while she had never been a fan of silences, this was one that she definitely wasn't going to take upon herself to break.

"William – how is it you knew about us?"

Incredibly grateful that someone had finally said something, her head popped up, only to find Finn and Klaus staring at each other tensely.

Then Klaus smiled a little.

"My mother told me."

"Seems counter-productive."

Klaus shook his head. "She thought my real mother incapable of caring for me considering she had given me up so easily. However, it was never her intention to hide the truth from me."

Caroline's gaze roaming, she noticed Esther's eyes flit worriedly from Klaus to Mikael as she shifted uncomfortably. It didn't escape the rest of the table's notice, but it was only her and Klaus who knew the real reason for it: everything Klaus was saying only painted Esther in a worse and worse light in Mikael's eyes.

Clearly picking up on the mood, Elijah cleared his throat.

"Perhaps a lighter line of conversation?" He looked to her, his eyes narrowed a little, then to her Klaus. "How is it you met your bride, William?"

The hybrid's lips quirked for a second before he pointedly turned to look at her. Elijah was forced to too and in seconds she had the entire family's eyes on her.

"Someone I trusted very much nearly killed me. He saved me."

It was the most generous account of that night ever, but telling Klaus' family that he'd used the hybrid bond to force Tyler to bite her didn't seem like the best version of the story to go with.

Suddenly she understood how Klaus kept coming up with his elaborate lies.

Maybe they weren't so bad at this after all.

"Then you were forced to marry him!" Mikael suddenly exclaimed, as if he'd just solved a puzzle he'd been struggling with.

She met his eyes coolly.

"Actually, no."

Elijah seemed surprised. "That _is_ tradition."

"Well we do things very differently where we are from."

Her eyes met Esther's but quickly jumped away.

With her heightened hearing she heard Kol whisper into Rebekah's ear about that explaining why they spoke strangely and had their hair cut so short. She hid a smile then continued; the Originals' eyes still on her.

"There was no obligation, I simply… saw a different side to him that night than I ever had before."

Somehow her gaze found Klaus' across the table, and, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't look away.

"I actually could not bear him at first." He broke into a smile and she did too, laughing a little. "But he grew on me."

Finally she managed to lower her gaze, a light blush playing on her cheeks as she reminded herself that she was just making this up so they could believably pretend to be a couple. The story couldn't very well have ended at them going on a bartered date which had led to a sleepless night for her as she tried to convince herself of all sorts of things – for one that she hadn't had an amazing time.

She suddenly jolted when from the corner of her eye she noticed Past Klaus staring at her intently. She got the feeling that he'd been doing so for a while.

Again she was reminded of how similarly intense the two men's gazes could be.

A chair scraped loudly and her head popped back up.

"I shall show you where you will be sleeping."

Caroline looked down at her plate, still half-filled with… whatever it was, but immediately gave up. She didn't hate even Esther enough to fight to stay for some mysterious animal that tasted like sweaty armpits.

She stood and then so did Klaus and they quickly followed his mother into the hall, out of the family's earshot.

Immediately Ester turned on Klaus.

"Are you deliberately making things more difficult for me or are you simply that dense?"

His jaw clenched. "Your marriage is none of my concern… _mother._ "

Caroline bit her lip to stop a smile from escaping. Klaus had clearly decided to make good on her demand to address her as his mother but definitely not to treat her as such, using the word as an insult instead.

Esther's jaw clenched too and Caroline couldn't believe how similar they looked, both clearly mentally browsing through their catalogue of threats.

Eventually the witch evidently decided to just settle on saying her next words as poisonously as possible.

"You shall sleep in Kol's room."

Immediately Klaus' shoulders relaxed, but she wasn't done.

"Perhaps you could remember to extend gratitude to your siblings for being willing to share despite your unwelcome intrusion."

With that she spun and walked away, back in the direction they'd come.

Caroline let out a breath. "God, could you two speak to each other with any more malice?"

He pretended to think for a moment. "We could certainly give it a go."

He smiled charmingly and she rolled her eyes.

His eyes were dark in the dimly lit passage but they were on her, and she searched her brain for something to say, realising how close their proximity was and how much thinner the air had seemed to become.

"Um, so… we made it through dinner."

"Indeed, we did," he said, a small smile playing at his lips.

"Past You didn't say much," she pointed out, her mind moving to consider the way he'd looked at her.

Differently from the way his doppelganger was looking at her now, but so similar to the way Klaus had looked at her at the Mikaelson Ball.

"He – _I_ knew speaking meant drawing Mikael's attention. Which was something I preferred not to have unless I could be sure it would guarantee me a gain in his esteem." He smiled, but this time it was bitter. "That was rare."

Speechless, she nodded.

From her incredibly brief interactions with the family she'd noticed a few things: Kol kept up a running line of snarky commentary whenever there was conversation to cover it, Elijah didn't seem to like her and was possibly a touch sexist – and it was as if the Mikaelson patriarch constantly had an explosive device hidden right beneath his skin.

"We should probably go to bed."

This time he was the one to nod before lightly rubbing her cheek as if it were something he did all the time.

She sucked in a breath before realising that he'd removed a single wisp of hair.

For the longest of seconds her cheek felt warm where he'd touched it.

"Um," she said inelegantly.

He smiled but for once it wasn't smug or suggestive.

Instead she was strangely reminded of something he'd once told her.

 _I enjoy you._

"Uh, you know," she finally breathed out, grateful for have landed on something to say, "your mom may be awful but she was right. We _should_ thank your siblings."

His smile widened and all at once it _was_ suggestive.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I don't think I would have minded sharing."

Hoping her chinks weren't fuchsia, she lifted her chin as she bit back a smile.

"Night."

He looked amused. "Goodnight, love."

She began walking in the direction of the room she'd been shown earlier before turning around, catching him watching her retreat.

"Hey, Klaus?"

He frowned a little, curious.

"Promise never to tell me what we ate tonight?"

He chuckled.


	10. Chapter 10

Hey you guys! I've been getting some really good questions regarding upcoming things and I just wanted to take a sec to answer them: I have thought about the vamps feeding and it will come up, in fact it comes up in this chapter. And then again later.

Tatia will be in this story not only in physical presence but also as a concept and person Niklaus is in love with.

Esther doesn't know they're vampires. She knows they're _something_ and from the future. That's about it.

I'm glad you guys have been asking for sibling interactions because there is definitely a lot of that coming up. At the moment they're just on Day 1 (or, well, Day 2 now), and only comfortable with each other. But there's definitely all kinds of pairings coming up: Klaus/Caroline/Klaus, Klaus/Rebekah, Caroline/Elijah, Caroline/Mikael, Caroline/Esther, Klaus/Klaus etc. Caroline even has a scene with Finn! So stay tuned ;)

And don't worry, you guys will be drowning in Past Klaus and Caroline eventually - there is a _lot_ of a lot of things coming up. Currently I've written over 20 000 words for this story and Day 2 hasn't even come to an end yet. Day 2 is like fifty chapters long lol. Ok I'm totally kidding, but like, Day 2 is very long haha. A lot happens.

Lastly, I'd just like to say that I've already planned a sequel for this story but it's gonna be a crossover with The 100. So fair warning for everyone who still needs to watch it: get on that, lol. And if you weren't planning on watching it, I'd seriously recommend it. I'm currently obsessed with it, it's excellent watching and there's a KC ship.

Ok sorry for all the faffing, thank you for the reviews, let's go!

* * *

Caroline wiped her eyes, yawning.

She hadn't had the best sleep in the world but considering she was sleeping in the equivalent of a bed from one thousand years in the past, she supposed it hadn't been too bad.

Looking around, she noticed the early morning light coming in through the window, a variety of miscellaneous sounds accompanying it.

From the brightness of the light she figured she'd woken just a few hours after dawn, meaning she hadn't missed breakfast like she'd optimistically hoped she would last night before falling asleep.

She had a pretty good idea cereal wouldn't be on the menu.

They'd have to find a source of blood, and quickly. Hopefully she'd believably be able to skip a few mealtimes, but her craving for blood would then become worse without human food. Deciding this was definitely something she needed to discuss with Klaus, she quickly got to her feet.

She was absently looking for a mirror to check what kind of nest her hair had turned into overnight when she suddenly realised that she actually had no idea where Klaus' room was.

All she knew was that he was taking Kol's room and that they'd gone off in opposite directions last night.

She sighed heavily. The last thing she wanted to do was run into any of his family members before finding him. She still felt completely out of place here and the fact that she couldn't perform any of her normal morning rituals was definitely a contributing factor.

With another sigh she looked around. She'd opted to sleep in her underwear which meant she now had the whole dressing dilemma to contend with. She really hated the dresses Rebekah had given her, but everyone had looked at her like something out of a scifi movie when she'd worn her own clothes.

Thinking of Klaus' face when he'd first seen in her in the burgundy dress yesterday, she picked a light orange one and pulled it on.

She still had her hair tie on her arm and was about to use it when she realised buns probably weren't a thing here either.

"Seriously!"

Mumbling unintelligibly, she ran her fingers through her hair, hoping it looked somewhat ok. Really she didn't think her hair could look any worse than anyone's here – the women _and_ the men – but she couldn't help thinking of the way Klaus was used to seeing her.

As quietly as possible, she opened the door and stepped out into the hall. Intense relief rushed at her when she didn't see or hear a single person.

Pushing her hair behind her ear, she listened carefully.

As far as she could tell the house was just about empty, with only Rebekah humming in a room somewhere.

She frowned when she heard Klaus' voice coming from quite a distance away. He was… laughing.

She figured it was the other him, but it was the only Klaus she could find and she went forward in the hopes that it would turn out to be the right one.

Before she knew it she stood outside some strange little building outside, made of three crumbling half-walls.

Her eyes landed on the two people inside – Henrik and… her Klaus.

They were pushing some stones around, Henrik looking to be in his element and Klaus sneaking a wondrous glance up at his brother every few seconds.

Her footsteps paused, entranced by this sight.

She knew Klaus would hear her if she went any closer, and she just wanted to watch for a while.

They seemed to be playing some kind of game that involved pushing stones around and accusing each other of cheating every other minute.

"That definitely earns me a house!" Klaus exclaimed.

Henrik laughed and it was the entertained giggle of a young child, the kind of laugh that made you smile.

"Perhaps a tent."

"You're a sneak."

"A sneak who is taking your bow and arrow," Henrik proclaimed proudly, taking two of Klaus' stones for himself.

"Those were my favourite!" Klaus protested, giving his brother a light shove.

The boy laughed again then grinned gleefully, picking the stones up and waving them around Klaus' face gloatingly.

Caroline stood frozen, watching.

Klaus shook his head good-naturedly and picked up the largest stone they had between them, throwing it up into the air.

She figured it operated somewhat like dice except that where it rolled to on landing apparently seemed to mean something too. As they were watching its journey, Henrik's face suddenly smoothed out and he looked thoughtful.

"No one comes out here to play with me anymore."

There was a long pause during which both of them kept their eyes on the rolling stone.

Caroline marvelled at the way men communicated.

"Niklaus thinks himself too old?" Klaus asked, with a sad amount of knowing in his tone.

Henrik nodded. "Everyone does."

She was glad for her positioning when she caught something cross Klaus' still-downcast eyes, something that looked a lot like bitter regret.

"Well… I rather enjoy this. We shall do it often, alright?"

Henrik looked up at Klaus briefly.

"I like you. Everyone else may think what they will; however, I am happy to have you as my brother."

Klaus seemed touched, his eyes raising. She watched his dimples come out as he smiled, before lowering his eyes again.

"Thank you, Henrik."

The stone finally came to a dead halt and the moment broke, both males breaking into raucous laughter.

"How do you manage to win even when it is my turn?" Klaus asked.

Henrik only giggled and took one of Klaus' stones.

Caroline found herself walking forward, toward the entrance of the strange little play place.

"For this I will steal your Queen," Klaus announced.

Henrik looked giddy. "Not if I find yours first."

She walked in and Klaus looked up, eyes wide. She watched him realise that she'd just witnessed the entire exchange between him and his brother.

For the shortest second she swore she saw him blush lightly but then he shook his head, looking at Henrik.

"Seems she has found us."


	11. Chapter 11

I'm really thrilled you guys liked the last chapter because this one runs in the same vein except with Caroline added in too! Thank you so much for all the sweet reviews they really warmed my heart :)

This is my personal favourite chapter I've written so far and I hope you guys will like it too :)

* * *

Her eyes lowering, Caroline's cheeks pinked.

When she looked up again Klaus was smiling.

"Henrik, you remember Caroline."

Klaus' youngest brother looked up at her with a curious expression.

"Are you really going to marry her?"

She met Klaus' eyes and he winked at her.

"Yes, I am."

She dragged her gaze from his to look at Henrik.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Playing Stones," he informed her. "Would you like to join us?"

"I'd love that," she admitted. "It looks interesting. Uh…" She looked around. "Should I get myself some stones?"

Klaus nodded. "Yes, generally – "

"No, you should use these."

Henrik hooked a cloth bag from his belt and let the contents tumble out as Klaus looked on with a raised brow. Stones of different shapes and sizes fell out, many painted. She realised this was his special stash.

"Are you sure?"

He seemed so excited that he forgot to speak, gesturing for her to sit down. She sat opposite Klaus, imitating their cross legged positions, being mindful of the playing field between them which seemed to be some kind of hexagon.

"Ok, so how do you play?"

"Think a strange combination of marbles, Monopoly and chess," Klaus said with an amused smirk.

"Um… ok," she laughed.

"Games we play in our village," Klaus explained to Henrik, who nodded.

"I shall teach you," he declared. "You will have it in no time."

"After which I'm sure she will wipe the floor with us," Klaus pretended to complain.

They weren't wrong.

It took her about half an hour to get the swing of things and another half hour of playing before she had Klaus' knight and half of each of their stones.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," she teased Klaus.

"I'm out of practice!"

She scoffed. "Lame excuse."

"Besides, what am I to do when you've teamed up with my brother?"

She laughed and Henrik shrugged.

"Stops you from cheating."

Klaus' jaw dropped and Caroline broke into giggles before raising her hand.

"High five!" she grinned at Henrik.

He cocked his head, looking at her raised palm strangely.

She cleared her throat as she realised, Klaus looking on amusedly.

"Um… this is called a high five. I lift my hand then you lift yours…"

She waited till he'd mimicked her action before continuing.

"Then you hit my hand with yours. Or the other way around, depending on who lifts their hand first."

He looked wary. "And what is the point of this?"

"Um… celebrating a shared victory, an expression of happiness or loyalty or just to say that you like someone, sometimes. It's a bit like a handshake."

This seemed to settle him and he smiled widely before smacking her palm happily.

"That _is_ fun," he admitted.

She turned to smile smugly at Klaus but he was already smiling – happily.

Not knowing what to do with that, she turned back to Henrik.

"I think we are going to be using the shared victory one quite a lot," she winked.

"Yes, you are very adept at this," he grinned, looking down at the game.

Caroline raised a brow but just then a bell rang nearby and Henrik's head immediately popped back up.

"Breakfast!"

With that he jumped up and gestured toward the game.

"Shall we continue later?"

Klaus looked at her and she nodded. Henrik grinned before rushing off.

Her and Klaus smiled before standing, shaking themselves off.

"He has a pretty good vocabulary for an eleven year old," she noted, as they slowly made their way back toward the house.

He smirked. "Well, we did spend a lot of time together, after all."

She rolled her eyes. "Trust you to take credit for that."

He grinned at her and she smiled back sunnily before her forehead creased as a worrying thought struck.

Of course he read her mind.

"Don't worry, love, breakfast is mostly berries and nuts."

"Oh, thank god," she breathed.

She elbowed him in the ribs when he chuckled.


	12. Chapter 12

"I need to speak with you."

Before she could reply or think to resist, she was pulled outside. Once they were across the threshold though, she pulled her arm from Finn's hold.

"Do _not_ touch me."

She didn't have any personal experience with him but she knew Klaus hated him for some reason and she decided to go with his instinct on this one. Especially when the guy had just literally dragged her away without even waiting for consent.

She could easily put the asshole on his ass but, deciding to stay out of curiosity, she folded her arms as she looked up at him.

She'd never found the eldest Original brother too attractive but this century didn't exactly do him any favours either. His brown hair was slightly longer than Elijah's but it was pulled into a thick plait that went down his back, accentuating his large forehead. He also had a thick beard that made her ponder for a second how everyone else was shaving, and then why he wasn't following suit.

"What is it you want?"

"You are mouthy," he noted, his brow creased distastefully.

"You're a dick. What's your point?"

He looked confused by this but seemed to know he'd been insulted. He took a step closer and she had to remind herself that it was a power play and therefore not to step back. The problem was he didn't smell particularly great.

"I spoke with my mother. She told me the truth about you and… _William._ "

Her eyes widened.

She wondered what made Finn different from anyone else so as for Esther to divulge that secret. She didn't even want to tell Mikael, which was causing problems for her.

She straightened her back. "And?"

He took another step forward and she resolved to breathing through her mouth.

"And I will not let you or him intimidate her, nor lay a single finger on anyone in this family."

Seriously? That was his big reason for pulling her out here?

This entire family needed a large dose of chill pills.

She smiled sweetly. "If you come a step closer I'm going to have to lay _an entire hand_ on you – to break your arm."

Finn seemed doubtful at first, looking her over, before stepping back.

Clearly his mother had passed on the bit about them being dangerous, but they'd both assumed it only counted for Klaus, which explained why he'd pulled her out here.

He took another step back, slightly fearful, and she felt a little drunk on the power.

She took a step forward and was considering what to do to scare him enough so that he wouldn't pull anything like this again when she heard footsteps from behind her.

Turning, she felt a strange jolt somewhere inside her when she saw Past Klaus approach, looking strangely cheerful about something.

"Hi," she found herself smiling.

Quickly she looked over her shoulder, to find Finn had gone.

Good.

Past Klaus' smile brightened.

"Caroline, I wondered if I could show you around the village?"

She couldn't stop mirroring his adorably dimpled smile.

She couldn't stop herself from nodding.


	13. Chapter 13

Hey guys! So I just wanted to thank you all so so much for being so lovely and nominating this story for _two_ categories in the Klaroline Awards! I was so touched and still am stoked that you guys are liking it so much (more on that at the end). Unfortunately I had to make a seriously tough choice and this fic didn't make it but I really hope you guys will find me worthy for the other categories I'm currently in. I am particularly proud of my story, nominated in the OT3 category, _who were we and what have we become,_ and I definitely recommend you guys checking that out and hope you will like it :)

To those asking for longer chapters: I understand what you're looking for but I really enjoy the short chapters and putting up quick updates and, most importantly, I've chosen this structure because it's best for the story I want to tell.

In addition, I always forget to mention this because I'm so used to all my regular readers knowing this, but I cannot account for anything that has happened in TO in regards to the Originals' backstories. I am working only on their history told in TVD and fleshing that out simply because I do not know what TO revealed and, quite frankly, I like things that way. I am really sorry if that confuses anyone though!

* * *

"What are you doing?"

Esther turned slowly from where she was poring over pages.

"Working on spells," she replied curtly. "What are _you_ doing here?"

He shrugged. "I've come to talk to you."

She sat. "What is it you would like to speak about? I am rather busy."

"You always were," he nodded.

Thoughtfully he looked around the room. They had used to refer to it as the Cloak Room. As children they had found it difficult to understand the magic their mother had performed, the danger of her spells, and that she needed an entire room to work on them. In place of explaining she'd told them it was where she maintained her travelling cloaks.

He remembered, as a young boy, thinking that she would be leaving any day now, if she spent so much time on those travelling cloaks.

He remembered not blaming her; wanting to ask if she would take him with her, turning it over and over in his mind each time Mikael looked at him.

"Is this what you wanted? An opportunity to express your childhood sorrows?" she asked, coldly.

"If I wanted to tell you you were a bad mother, I wouldn't beat around the bush."

She lifted her chin. "Then speak."

He opened his mouth but she spoke first.

"If you mean to say our agreement has expired, I am afraid I cannot allow you out of it."

He almost laughed. "Trust me, there is nothing more I want than to go home."

She nodded. "Good."

Nearing, he ran his hand along the stone wall; touched the parchment on her desk.

He stopped before her, observing her glare, letting it fill him up.

"Why didn't you leave him?"

It wasn't what he'd come here to ask but it was what made it out, and for the life of him he couldn't recall why he _had_ come.

"Pardon?" she asked, her eyes aflame.

"You weren't happy," he pointed out.

She jumped to her feet. "You have no right to say that."

He clenched his jaw as he watched her – watched her protect his father over him, once again.

"Then you're happy, are you – right now? Happy to be lying to him to placate him? Happy to be terrified I stay; terrified he will find out who I am though it is no fault of your own?"

She opened her mouth then closed it again, wordlessly.

"Are you happy, mother, to be constantly at his beck and call though you could bring him to his knees with a thought?" Bitterly, he laughed. "Are you so much a monster as to be happy with the brutal way he raised us?"

He had not wished to come here. Even if the medallion worked that way, here is not where or when him and Caroline would have ended up.

But now he realised this was something he'd craved. When she'd come back to life in the present he'd been too busy forgiving, then hating her afresh, to open old wounds.

He'd wanted to know _why_ for so long.

"Do you really love that monster that much? Do you really love Mikael so much that you fooled yourself into believing you were happy, no matter the price?"

Her back straightened.

"He is your father and you _will_ address him as such."

"NO HE'S NOT!"

He was so sick of the lie; it tasted repulsive on his tongue.

For so long he'd hated every fibre of his body; every cell that denied the heritage he should have shared with his siblings.

Then he'd realised – the last thing he should have ever wanted was to be related to the monster of a man who had raised him.

Noticing Esther quivering, Klaus took a step back.

She was pale as a spectre, eyes wide as they could go.

"H-how – "

"You thought I wouldn't know about that blemish on your apparent unfailing _happiness_?"

" _I_ did not even know, not for certain," she admitted, breathily, seeming a minute away from tears. "D-does… does he find out?"

Immediately any shred of sympathy he'd felt for her vanished.

He laughed bitterly. "Of course _he's_ who you're worried about."

"He's my husband!"

"Funny, you weren't thinking of that when you spent the night with my father, were you?"

She cringed back and it suddenly hit him: his father could still be here. Somewhere in this village he could still be alive.

He stepped closer again.

"Who is he?"

Her eyes met his. "Who is who?"

"My father, who is he?"

Her eyes actually managed to grow larger.

"I cannot tell you."

"Tell me!" he yelled.

She shook her head and before he could think, his palm was wrapped snugly around her throat, pushing her up against a wall.

"Tell me," he growled.

She shook her head again and he tightened his grip.

"Give me a name."

"I will not let you destroy my marriage," she choked out.

"I will kill you."

He had once already.

"You cannot."

Her hands went to his, grappling wildly, and he released her just a little to hear what she had to say.

"You said you wanted to go home more than anything else. You cannot do so if you kill me."

He wanted this more, he realised.

He could stay here and get to know his father; find out how _he_ would've raised him.

Then he thought of Caroline, of her need to go back, and save Bonnie.

Esther's feet hit the ground again and Klaus stepped away, haggard.

"Please…" he pleaded, defeated. "Just tell me."

* * *

So, as I mentioned at the beginning (and on tumblr - follow me mrslackles if you aren't, for announcements like this) I'm really stoked about Klaroline Awards and also I may have kidney stones (I'm blaming everything on my kidney stones today) and also from the reviews on the last chapter I know how much y'all are looking forward to the Past Klaus/Caroline interaction, so I'm willing to put up the next chapter today as well! I did consider simply swapping the two chapters but I really felt that this was the right placement for what I was trying to achieve in the story. However, if I have ten reviews by the time I go to bed (like... 3-ish hours from now) I'll put up the next one, which absolutely has Past Klaus/Caroline :)

Thank you, love you guys

xx


	14. Chapter 14

Did I mention that I finally started writing for Day 3? Day 2 is like 13 chapters long or something, it's crazy, but I've _finally_ moved on and am on to more... hmmm... emotionally testing times. ;)

Anyhoo, here is the chapter I promised! It's 4am for me right now and I think I'm seeing a bit skew lol.

Hope you like! (and a huge thank you to everyone who expressed love for the shorter chapters, y'all are awesome)

* * *

"And this is Tracy. Tracy, Caroline."

"So nice to meet you, Caroline."

Someone inside her house called out to her and she smiled politely before heading back inside.

"We should move along," Past Klaus stated, laying a light hand on her elbow.

She looked at his hand placement but didn't say anything, letting him lead her.

"How many more people do we have to meet?"

Stricken, his head whipped to her. "Apologies, am I boring you?"

"No," she shook her head.

She wasn't lying either. He'd been incredibly charming and… well, sweet, as he led her around the village, telling her anecdotes about spots and people.

"I just do not want K-William to worry. We left without telling anyone."

That was true too.

She'd been so enchanted by his offer that she hadn't thought about what Klaus would think or if he'd worry.

He was a paranoid person in general so her going off without telling anyone probably hadn't been the best plan.

Apparently Klaus Mikaelson in any time period could make her forget to think clearly about things.

"I understand," he nodded, though seeming slightly more sombre than he had for the past hour. "We shall return soon."

"Ok," she smiled.

He looked pleased by this and they continued on.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Why have you not been introducing me to anyone as William's fiancée?"

He shot her a look and for a second she recognised the Klaus she knew in him again – the sly side of him this time.

Then he shrugged. "You did not cause too much of a ruckus yesterday – very little of the townspeople know what occurred; about you and William. I suspected my family would want to keep it that way. Twins are not seen as a blessing to us."

"A curse?"

He cocked his head, thinking. "Not quite, but something akin to that."

It made sense. She would've believed him – but she'd seen that look cross his eyes.

And she didn't hate it. She didn't hate knowing that he'd in part been lying, not when she had a suspicion about why he hadn't introduced her as belonging to someone else.

"Come on."

He started pulling her quickly along. She was surprised by his strength.

"Where are we going?"

He grinned, slipping his hand down into hers and beginning to run.

"Come on!"

She laughed aloud, running with him.

* * *

They came to an abrupt stop about five minutes later, at an oddly shaped house with thick steam rising from its chimney.

He was a little out of breath and she knew her cheeks were flushed.

They'd run through mud and jumped across vegetable patches; narrowly avoided colliding with children.

She hadn't had that much fun in a while.

Klaus pulled her to the front door before turning to her, his full attention on her.

They were incredibly close, closer than her and Klaus had been last night, and she found she couldn't escape his gaze.

He pushed her hair back from her face and she sucked in a breath. She kept it trapped in her chest as he rubbed a warm finger across the bright red apple of her cheek.

His eyes searched hers and he looked intensely thoughtful.

"Du er blendende vakker."

She blinked. He continued caressing her face, bringing his thumb down to her chin.

She would've asked him what he'd just said if she could breathe.

Suddenly the door behind him opened roughly, and on impulse she pulled her hand from his.

Stepping away from her, he turned to the stuning middle-aged women with jet black hair who had exited the house.

"Francella."

That was all he said, with a little smirk.

Francella put her hand on her hip, glaring at him.

He simply smiled and she rolled her eyes, clearly won over.

"You are fortunate, they are fresh."

With that she turned and disappeared back inside the house, leaving Caroline to be insanely confused about whatever had just happened.

Not to mention the whole Klaus touching her thing because yeah, that was weighing pretty freaking heavy on her mind too. Specifically how she'd felt as he'd done it. But there was definitely also _why_ he'd done it and what the hell the real Klaus would say.

If someone had told her about this situation in theory she probably would've guessed that Klaus would be smug about her being attracted to another version of him and supported his wooing of her.

But it had become clear to her yesterday that that was definitely not the case.

If anything it seemed more like Klaus would break his double's fingers if he knew they'd been on Caroline.

Great. This was exactly what she needed.

 _Two_ Klauses, an attraction to both of them and competition between the two.

Because she knew that was why Past Klaus hadn't introduced her as anyone's fiancée – he wanted to win her over for himself.

Francella came back out and handed something wrapped in cloth to Klaus.

"Enjoy."

He nodded and took Caroline by the elbow again.

"Come on."

They didn't go far this time, to a small stone wall. He gestured towards it and she sat, after which he joined her.

"So can we ease up on the mystery? What is that?" she asked, pointing at the package in his hands.

He grinned at her then pulled away the cloth to reveal something inside that looked like two large pieces of pastry.

"I noted that you have not been eating too well."

Her eyes widened as the scent of the pastry hit her nostrils. It smelled amazing.

"I thought perhaps it had to do with our food differing from what you are accustomed to. I have yet to meet someone who has not taken to Francella's Dejklumper, though."

"Oh my god," she breathed. "That's so nice, thank you!"

His dimples were deep as he offered her the round pieces of pastry. Daintily she broke it, taking one piece.

She had no idea what the hell Dejklumper was, but it smelled and looked amazing so she was willing to give it a try. Besides, it wasn't like she could refuse it since he'd been so considerate in thinking to get it for her. Plus it couldn't possibly be worse than last night's dinner.

She moaned a little as she bit into it. Francella hadn't lied, they were fresh, and the pastry practically melted in her mouth but it wasn't just that – it was sweet! She hadn't had anything really sweet since getting here and now not only had Klaus given her something totally edible, it was also delicious and seriously gratifying to her sweet tooth.

She swore it had whatever their version of Nutella was inside it along with some sweet fruit, perhaps banana.

"This is amazing," she breathed.

His smile widened before he bit into his own piece.

"So, who was that Francella person?" she asked, hoping her tone was leading enough.

He shot her a quick look then spoke. "She is a friend of the family, however; she does not think our mother feeds us well enough. Kol, Henrik and I are her favourites so she often gives us treats."

She felt a weird sense of relief.

"Well, not to be rude but she has a point. Your mom's cooking leaves something to be desired."

He chuckled a little before silence descended as they ate. She took the time to look around the village from here, noting how slightly different this part of it was. She wondered if Francella was a werewolf but she couldn't bring herself to ask. It would most likely blow their cover anyway.

Suddenly she caught sight of someone familiar.

"Hey, that's your brother."

Klaus turned to look too and saw Elijah leaning against a wall.

He was looking right at them, and him and Klaus shared a stare for a long while.

She pulled a face. "I feel like he doesn't like me."

He looked at her sharply. "Why would you say so?"

She raised a brow. "Were you _there_ at dinner last night?"

Klaus smiled but it was muted. After a while he spoke.

"Elijah simply does not like change. Even when it is in his benefit."

Her frown deepened. "In his benefit?"

He seemed reluctant to explain but he turned to her.

"Yes, we have… fancied the same woman for a longer amount of time than is good for either of our egoes. It has often resulted in rather heated disputes."

Tatia.

Caroline had completely forgotten about her, forgotten about the story that had paralleled the Salvatores': two brothers in love with the same doppelganger.

"Interesting," she said, for lack of anything better.

Klaus smiled, looking at his brother again. "In fact it is her he is awaiting at this very moment."

She looked over at Elijah who was no longer staring at them but was tapping his leg somewhat excitedly.

"So what's the change that's in his benefit?" she asked distractedly as she kept an eye on the elder Original, keen for a peek at a third doppelganger.

"I find I have lost interest in Tatia," he admitted, and she froze.

"Someone else has come to far outweigh my fancy."


	15. Chapter 15

Wowza! I'm so overwhelmed in the best way by all the feedback I got on the last chapter! Thank you all so so much. It brings me joy to no end to know that you guys are still enjoying the story and I hope you will like this chapter :)

xx

* * *

"Hey."

Klaus – _her Klaus_ – looked up.

"Kol told me where his bedroom is," she explained. "Then did wiggly eyebrows, but I ignored those."

She wouldn't have added the last part if she hadn't sensed something wrong.

His eyes were dark and weary, brought into stark contrast by the version of him she'd just spent two hours with.

"That's Kol," he tried for a smile. "Where have you been?"

She sighed, nearing. "Hanging out with your brothers."

He raised a brow and she sat down on his bed beside him.

"After breakfast Finn pulled me away."

"Ah, so that was where you disappeared to."

"Yip."

"What did he want?"

"To threaten us, basically. Apparently your mom told him the whole truth about us."

Klaus scoffed. "I can't say I'm surprised, he was always her favourite."

"Anyway he just did the whole 'Don't lay a finger on my family' routine."

Klaus smiled a little at that for some reason and she frowned.

"Are you ok?"

"Fine."

"You don't look fine – no offence."

"Where else did you go?"

It took her a second to realise he'd changed the subject before she could think to respond.

"Um, Past You took me on a tour of the village."

Finally he looked at her properly.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

She shifted, trying to avoid the strange look in his eye as well as any suspicions he might have.

"Since this morning?"

"Yeah, it was like three hours."

"My village isn't that large," he pointed out.

"Well, we stopped at some places. God, is this the Spanish Inquisition?"

He frowned deeply and she ducked her head, knowing she'd overreacted because of how uncomfortable the situation was.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I was so worried you might be worried about where I was and then I come back and you're being all… depro."

She wasn't lying, that really was part of the reason. It just wasn't most of it.

Klaus finally managed a tiny genuine smile.

"Apologies, love, I don't mean to be _depro_."

She smiled at hearing him say that before laying a light hand on his arm.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said, lying as he looked her right in the eyes.

Sighing, she considered whether to push more now or later, then decided on the latter. Whatever had happened was clearly still fresh in his mind and he needed a little time to calm down.

Quickly she floundered for a line of conversation.

"Hey, um… which languages can you speak? Or could you, at this time?"

He seemed utterly bewildered by the question.

"Why?"

"Well, Past You said something to me in another language today and I can't really do any Google Translate-ing back home with barely the phonetics. I figured it would help if I at least had the language to start off with."

He smirked amusedly. "Sweetheart, you must know I'm far better than Google Translate could ever be. Just tell me what he said."

"Oh," she blinked. "Ok."

She hadn't considered that but she supposed it did make the most sense.

Concentrating hard to remember what he'd said as his hand had been on her, she prayed to every single deity that it had not been anything dirty.

"So it was _du-_ something then a word that sounded a lot like the word 'blended' and then _va-kker_."

Klaus stared back at her solidly and her heart sped.

 _Please don't let be it be anything dirty, please don't let it be anything dirty._

"Um, so," she fiddled, "what does it mean?"

He sighed. " _Du er blendende vakker_?"

"Yes! That's it!"

Looking down, he massaged the bridge of his nose for a few seconds before regarding her again.

"It means you're blindingly beautiful."

 _Oh god, something dirty would've been better._

"Oh."

They sat like that for the longest most awkward minute before she jumped up.

"Um, thanks."

He looked up at her and she had to struggle hard to convince herself that she was imagining the betrayal in his eyes.

"On my way in Henrik asked if we wanted to continue the game. I said I would come."

He let out a breath, shaking his head tiredly.

"I'm not in the mood."

She nodded. "Ok."

Caroline hovered a second longer before leaving his room, letting out a breath as soon as she was in the hall.

Something was wrong with him.

She remembered being so terrified of him putting up walls or distance between them because of his family and now it was happening.

And she was pretty sure she'd just made it even worse.


	16. Chapter 16

I have to keep thanking you guys for your continued encouragement, it really makes me so happy and I'm so glad to be able to update so often for you guys because y'all are amazing :)

* * *

"Is William alright?"

She was about to say she had no idea, grateful to have someone to talk to, when she realised that discussing Klaus' state of mind with his eleven year old brother probably wasn't the best plan of action.

"Yeah," she replied, putting on a brave face. She winked. "He's probably just scared I'm going to steal his queen."

"Sounds as if I'm needed."

Caroline turned to see Past Klaus standing at the entrance, smiling.

"Niklaus!"

Henrik jumped up and ran to him, hugging him as Klaus laughed.

"Apologies for not coming here in so long, brother," Klaus said sincerely, loping a casual arm around Henrik's back.

"Better late than never," Henrik grinned.

They parted and Henrik re-took his seat. Klaus sat opposite her, in the exact spot the hybrid had sat this morning.

"I was looking for you," he said quietly as Henrik re-started the game.

"Oh, um, I went to find K-William."

"And?" he asked with a raised brow.

"And what?"

"Had he been concerned?"

Something drove her to lie.

"Yes, very."

He looked disappointed but immediately disguised it.

"Good thing we came back, then."

She nodded and picked out her own stones.

"You know how to play?"

"I taught her this morning," Henrik informed him, before she could reply.

Klaus smiled, shaking his head a little, then roughed up his oblivious brother's hair a little in half-annoyance.

Caroline laughed. She'd always been glad not to have siblings, who could interrupt her moments with guys, and this was just reinforcing that belief.

From his perspective, of course. Personally she was incredibly grateful for Henrik's presence. Not only did she just really like the boy, but she also felt safer with him there as a buffer.

Part of her attraction to Klaus had always been the bad boy untamed thing, she knew that. The sense that he did and took what he wanted when he wanted – it was sexy beyond belief.

But his perpetual gentlemanliness had also played a huge factor and she'd always been grateful for that part of him.

If he hadn't been waiting for the go-ahead signal from her – if he'd just pulled her to him and kissed her, whenever – she wasn't sure she would've been able to put a stop to it, no matter the surrounding morals. So she was grateful he was awaiting her complete and obvious readiness before making any physical move.

But this Klaus wasn't like that, she could tell.

Maybe it was the way he'd so casually stated that he was over Tatia, saying in all but so many words that he was now interested in her, or how he'd said nothing to Francella but her name to get what he wanted – she just knew.

She knew this Klaus would kiss the air from her lungs with a hand down her top; would lick her slit and push a finger in deep, have her thrashing before she'd even had a chance to think about putting a stop to any of it.

So she needed a buffer, badly. The very fact that she was thinking about any of this proved that.

Clearing her throat, she changed her position so her thighs could be pressed together.

"Henrik, two houses for a healing potion?"

Klaus approached Henrik's play room with a sigh.

He missed moving at vampire speed. Humanity was exhausting.

Everything about this time was wearing on him, he'd realised.

The food, his parents, the curious village eyes constantly on them – it was all becoming far more than he was prepared to deal with.

He'd been pondering this when he realised there were two things he still enjoyed here and drew energy from.

And they were both currently inside the half walls ahead, playing Stones.

Klaus frowned, slowing, when he realised that he could hear three different voices, all laughing. It took him the few moments to approach the structure to realise that it was his doppelganger inside, having quite literally taken his place.

He considered saying something then stopped, deciding to watch instead.

It started with simply looking at her, who was sharing a look with _him_.

She seemed… content.

He wondered if she'd looked that way at him this morning.

 _Change is inevitable,_ that was a saying.

As annoying as those things were, they weren't always wrong and that one in particular was unfortunately accurate.

Because the man inside with Caroline and his brother was him in only the most basic of senses. Inevitably, he'd changed. In some ways he'd wanted to, in others he couldn't have helped it.

It wasn't all bad. He would never miss the snivelling he'd used to do, especially after watching with disgust as the past version of himself was cowed by Mikael.

Yet, he seemed to think… she didn't look at him like that.

Then he followed her gaze; watched her look at the past version of himself, and he knew immediately – he _did_ look at her like that.

He was falling for her. The watered down version of himself was falling for Caroline.

Something drew her eyes up.

She gasped when she saw Klaus standing just outside, his gaze stormy.

She felt… guilty.

She was glad to be able to recognise that but acknowledging it didn't help the emotion make any more sense.

She wasn't with _either_ of these men, it made no sense for her to feel guilty.

"William, would you like to join?"

"Yes, William, join!" Henrik grinned.

Klaus looked shaken – so much so that it took him a long moment to force himself into speaking.

"Another time."

With that he turned and walked away.

Caroline swore under her breath.

"Kl-William, wait up!"

It was annoying to be forced to run at human speed but she managed to catch up to him.

Pulling on his elbow, she brought him to a stop.

"What's wrong?"

He opened his mouth.

"And if you say nothing again I'm going to scream. Really loud, so all the villagers know you're being a jerk."

His mouth closed.

She huffed. "Seriously?"

He stared back at her mutely and she folded her arms in frustration.

She could either let it go again or prompt him further, specifically by taking a guess about the source of his renewed bad mood.

Deciding to risk it, she went with a guess. "Is this because of back there?"

He didn't say anything but his jaw clenched, and she blew out a long breath.

"Klaus, I didn't invite him. He just showed up. And besides, you said you didn't wanna play."

He stared at her for a long moment then opened his mouth – which was right when Past Klaus decided to join.

"Is everything alright?"

Supressing a groan of frustration, Caroline turned to him.

"Fine," she nodded.

He looked at Klaus. "William?"

Klaus looked right about to respond by ripping his double's head off.

"Um, I think we just need a moment."

"So this is where you all are!"

They all turned to see Mikael coming toward them.

Great. Just what this situation needed – more tension. Which was practically Mikael's middle name, in her opinion. Mikael Tension Mikaelson.

"With a girl, of course," Mikael sneered as he reached them.

Caroline scoffed. "Actually, we were with Henrik."

He seemed surprised that she'd addressed him, then sniggered.

"Ah, yes, playing his silly little games."

"Actually they are very creative. Years ahead of his time."

Up until now his gaze had roamed, skipping to one man and then back, but now for the first time his gaze properly landed on her, as if he hadn't expected her to be a permanent fixture in this conversation.

"Yes, and I suppose I should take the word of a silly little girl on that."

"Do _not_ speak to her like that," Klaus warned.

"And what will you do about it?" Mikael grinned cruelly, clearly taking great joy from this.

Caroline realised he'd wanted this, had awaited his opportunity to bait Klaus.

"Nothing, because you are weak!" he spat, as Klaus clenched his jaw. "You know how I know that? Because you look just like that one."

Past Klaus' gaze was lowered as Mikael spoke of him and Caroline knew she had to step in. She wasn't sure how much Klaus' temper could handle before he snapped Mikael's neck.

"Pronouncing someone weak before having proved so seems to me the epitome of weakness."

Everyone's eyes jumped to her, Mikael's rounding.

"What did you just say, you puny puppet?"

Immediately she laid a firm hand on Klaus' shoulder.

She felt all the muscles tensed there and knew he'd been about to attack. Luckily she'd acted when she had or she was pretty sure Mikael's head would be rolling somewhere around her feet right now.

"I said that one only pronounces a man weak without the opportunity for him to prove otherwise if one is scared of being beat."

"Do you dare disrespect the man whose home you're staying in?"

"I mean no disrespect. I simply mean William deserves a fair chance to prove himself."

He frowned at this, looking confused, and she decided to make things crystal clear.

"William is willing to duel you to prove himself."


	17. Chapter 17

If at all possible, I'd really suggest rewatching the few minutes at the beginning of 3x08 with Klaus and Mikael's fight. It's not necessary but I do feel it adds to this chapter.

I'm sorry for shoddy editing, I'm really sad today because my holiday is officially over and I have to go back to university tomorrow, but I hope y'all still enjoy the chapter :)

* * *

Mikael's grin was large.

"Very well." He looked to Klaus. "Gear up, boy."

As soon as he was gone Klaus spun to face her.

"Why would you do that?"

Quickly she looked at Past Klaus.

"Could you give us a minute?"

He looked to be in some sort of wondrous trance but snapped out of it, leaving them.

She turned back to Klaus with a sigh.

"Because. You need to beat him, so both of you can realise that he can't treat you like that."

"Caroline – "

"Klaus, you can do this. You _are_ doing this."

With that she turned in the direction Past Klaus had gone in.

"Hey, Niklaus! Can you lend William a sword?"

* * *

"Thank you."

His double nodded.

"Good luck."

"Thank you."

He spoke curtly. He had no intention of forming a friendship or alliance with himself.

Especially not considering what he'd just seen.

"Are you afraid?"

He looked up, surprised by the question.

But he didn't know. So he didn't answer.

Instead he turned away, checking the sharpness of the blade. It didn't matter, of course, but there was something comforting about knowing that he could cut through Mikael's carotid like soft cheese if he so chose.

"Would you do me a favour?"

Frowning, Klaus turned back to the past him.

"Would you attempt bargaining with him?"

"Bargaining for what?"

He seemed to struggle with himself before finally speaking. "That if you win, he will no longer beat Henrik."

The statement came like a jolt to his system.

He'd forgotten.

He met the mirrors of his own eyes. "You take his beatings?"

"Not precisely –"

"When he is headed to Henrik you get in his way; let him work out his anger until he is too tired to go to Henrik?"

His eyes widened. "How did you know that?"

"Kol told me," he lied. "He said he does it too."

His younger brother may have perpetually gotten himself into mischief and scandal, but this was one thing Klaus had always greatly respected about him.

He'd seen, in the flames on his brother's corpse, how Kol would fall in Mikael's way when Klaus had had too much, gashes on his back and chest bleeding. He'd seen, as the doppelganger pronounced that she'd had no other choice but to kill him, the look Kol would give him just before – _for Henrik,_ it had meant.

Kol was not the type to express love in the traditional ways – he very rarely played anything with Henrik – but when he did, he tended to go the whole hog.

Past Him's eyes were lowered and Klaus nodded.

"I will make that bargain."

He looked up, grateful, but Klaus wasn't done.

"As long as, if Mikael does not stick to his end, you promise to continue looking after my brother."

 _For the little while he would still be alive, anyhow._

"Of course," he nodded.

Nodding too, Klaus turned, steeling himself for what lay ahead.

The fight he'd wished for lifetimes he could repeat.

* * *

 _"So, why do you not teach me that trick, young warrior?"_

Mikael was smirking and somehow Klaus knew he was recalling the same memory; revelling in the knowledge that he could beat him.

He thought he was just like his 'brother' – just as he used to be.

Klaus knew he wasn't, but it was difficult to remember that when Mikael stared down at him just as he always had, with that sneering predatory gaze that accused him of weakness.

Klaus lifted his sword and stepped forward.

 _"We fight for our survival, and you find time for fun?"_

Their swords clashed, bringing the rest of the family running, along with various villagers. He tried not to let it divert his attention, focusing on Mikael's confident laugh.

Klaus knew he could beat him easily if he applied his supernatural strength, but he didn't want that.

Something about the way Caroline had been so firm about her certainty that he could do this made him want to do it without his extra strength. He wanted to be better than the past version of himself.

 _"Teach me, come on!"_

He paid close attention to his footwork, remembering the way Mikael fought. He stepped back then advanced, meeting Mikael's strike up high then stopping it midway to his chest.

He was still on the defensive.

 _His sword was gone; his last line of defence._

 _Mikael kicked his foot out from under him and just like that he was on the ground, Mikael hovering over him with a sword._

 _He held it above his throat and Klaus wasn't surprised. This had always been his worst nightmare, after all – being utterly at the mercy of Mikael._

 _When he took his beatings there was always something rebellious about it, particularly when he took Henrik's._

 _This, however, was completely different. This was utter terror as he realised he had no way to know that Mikael would not unblinkingly pierce the sword through his neck._

 _"You are foolish and impulsive," Mikael accused, angry as always._

 _Klaus pursed his lips, trying desperately to hide his terror. Trying to show his father that he did not care what he thought of him – wished desperately that that were true._

 _"What? No more laughter?"_

 _He'd never hated anyone as much._

 _If he lived, he would never feel this powerless ever again._

 _Those were the two thoughts that passed through his mind on a loop as he stared into his brutal father's eyes._

 _"You have made your point, Mikael."_

 _His mother's voice, saving him._

 _But the anger in Mikael's eyes didn't dissipate and he lifted the sword high, ready to kill his son and Klaus shut his eyes tight thinking only: Why does my existence wrong him?_

 _Hearing the sword bury into the ground beside him, his eyes shot open._

 _He drew a breath and Mikael still stared down at him, hatred ebbing from his very being._

 _"Sometimes it is a miracle you are still alive. Boy."_

"Go William!" Caroline called.

Smiling, he dropped and spun in a circle, lifting his sword to meet Mikael's strike from an angle he hadn't been expecting.

Mikael frowned and Klaus took the opportunity to finally begin his own offence, standing and thrusting his sword at his father, advancing with no intent to stop.

"Woohoo!" Caroline called, and his smile widened.

Mikael was glaring as he tried to meet Klaus' every attack but he was being driven back by the growing force of each one.

He could hear Caroline's tiny murmurs of support and glee and it drove him; drove him forward. And in Mikael's eyes he saw the hatred grow and it reminded him of Henrik – the hate he could never let touch his innocent young brother.

Mikael's sword flew from his hand. He yelled in frustration and Klaus smirked, driving forward with his sword aimed at his throat until Mikael was backed against a wall, glaring hatefully.

Smiling widely, he placed his sword horizontally against Mikael's throat, an inch from slicing into his Adam's apple.

"No more laughter, father?"


	18. Chapter 18

Yay, guys, I'm so glad you liked the duel! Thank you for all the lovely reviews. This is a short one but I'm gonna be completely honest, I had about ten minutes free today for editing so if it hadn't been a short chapter there would've been no chapter.

Love you guys and hope you enjoy

xx

* * *

All the brothers rushed at Klaus, laughing and cheering raucously.

Rowdily they congratulated him and, with Klaus' attention on them, Mikael slipped away.

"You should take notes, brother!" Kol winked at Niklaus.

Rebekah approached William slowly, smiling widely.

She was proud.

And she had noticed Caroline's role in urging on her new brother. She had not been particularly fond of her but now she reconsidered, watching the way Caroline looked proudly on at William, more proudly than even _she_ was.

When all the boys had done their exchanges of congratulations and back slaps, she stepped closer to William, still smiling.

"Congratulations."

He smiled back and she noted how different it was than when Nik smiled at her.

"Thank you."

She gestured. "Walk with me?"

He nodded, sticking his sword in his belt, and they started off together, heading into the village.

"Who taught you to fight like that?"

"It's a bit of a natural ability."

She rolled her eyes. "That says nothing."

"My answers are like that, sometimes."

His smile was dimpled but sly, and she shook her head, laughing.

"You realise you have upset my father?"

He said nothing for a few steps and she spoke again.

"Nik told me you struck a deal with our father. Is that true?"

He looked at her for a long while, clearly sizing up whether she knew the details of it or not.

Folly – there was nothing Niklaus could hide from her.

"It is."

"Well. Congratulations are certainly in order but I feel a warning is perhaps more appropriate."

He smirked. "You mean putting a sword to his throat did not win his respect?"

That made her smile.

"His respect – perhaps. Unfortunately also his hatred."

He stopped walking, turning to her.

"I'm no stranger to hatred."

Drawing a long breath, she nodded.

"Yes. I can tell that about you."

* * *

"You are magnificent."

Caroline turned.

She'd been waiting to speak to Klaus but he'd gone off with Rebekah and so she'd simply stood aimlessly where Klaus and Mikael had just battled, re-living Klaus' awesome victory.

She blushed as she saw Past Klaus standing behind her.

"I did nothing."

"On the contrary," he said, stepping in closer to her. "You did it all."

Ducking her head, she smiled.

"You flatter me."

"I say nothing but the truth." He put a finger to her chin, lifting it, and she drew a short breath. "William's win can clearly be attributed to you."

"That's not true."

He shook his head. "Your continued support was instrumental, of course, but it is more than that."

She frowned and he smiled, running a light finger along her wrist.

"A man could do anything with you at his side."


	19. Chapter 19

Hi guys! I'm sorry I've been MIA for a little while, I've just been dealing with some real world writing projects. Klaroline takes up like all of my mental capacity so I try and separate myself from them when I need to write other things/characters.

That being said, I will try and get the next chapter out for you guys tomorrow night, but after that updates will begin slowing down a little as we've begun approaching the chapters I'm still writing and also I'm back at university now.

But your reviews, lovely comments, and general badassness will always keep more of them coming!

Lastly, thank you so so much. My review count is past 200 and this story hit more than 100 followers a while ago but I idiotically forgot to thank you guys then. Thank you and I love you!

Hope you enjoy

xx

* * *

Caroline ran her hand along a few necklaces, hanging by a window.

She'd realised that she hadn't actually seen much of the house that she was staying in and, after Past Klaus had been called away by his mother, she'd decided to come inside to do some exploring.

She'd taken a small peek into everyone's bedrooms but now she was in the kitchen, observing how strange it was. For one, there was a fire going in the middle of it, warming water. For another there were shields and necklaces hung up on the walls. Clearly the room served as more than just a kitchen.

She was beginning to find all these things incredibly interesting; beginning to wonder what all of them would think if they were taken to her time.

It made her smile a little that Klaus had gone from this to the mansion she was used to him staying in, the kitchen used solely for cooking and the size of a small town. It had probably been more of a gradual change than it seemed to her now, but she still found it amusing.

"Are you in search of something?"

Looking over her shoulder, she saw Elijah, standing by the kitchen door.

She shook her head. "I was just exploring."

"Do you require help with anything?"

She turned with a sly little smile.

"You know, a woman can go around without needing a man to come help her with something every few minutes."

He looked surprised then amused. "You sound like my sister."

She arched a brow then remembered that she wasn't supposed to know or dislike Rebekah yet.

"Well I have not had much interaction with her yet but I will take that as a compliment."

She turned back around.

"My sister is an incredible woman."

"Well then I thank you," she replied dryly.

Something about Elijah ground her gears and she found herself wondering whether she would feel this way about him in the present.

Ignoring his presence, she went about what she was doing, examining the stones on the different necklaces as the light hit them.

She knew Elijah had come in here for more than just to check if she'd chipped a fingernail but she wasn't planning on taking him there. If he wanted to say something he should.

Eventually he did.

"I notice you have caught my brother's eye."

Smiling teasingly, she looked at him over her shoulder again.

"Which one?"

He didn't look amused and she turned, noticing how troubled he looked.

"You seem bothered."

"I am concerned about Niklaus and the way he has taken to you," he admitted.

She sighed. She could relate. Still, she didn't see why Elijah would feel as she did.

"I thought you would be happy." He frowned and she elaborated: "Niklaus told me about Tatia."

Realisation flooded his features and he nodded in slow understanding of her point. "I am not thinking of simply personal gain. And since you are aware of Tatia, you must know Niklaus has a habit of stealing women who belong to other men."

"Is _that_ what happened?" she asked, a small smile playing at her lips.

Elijah looked annoyed by the question.

She'd never gotten the full story from Klaus but from what she could tell, it seemed each brother had thought Tatia had been with them first.

She was interested to meet this wily doppelganger.

"Besides, women cannot be stolen, Elijah. Nor do they belong to men."

He blinked back at her and she smiled, deceivingly sweetly.

"Consequently, my relationships with William and Niklaus are my business and I would appreciate it if you respected that."

He looked gobsmacked and she was sure she was about to be accused of being mouthy for the second time today when Kol stepped into the room, grinning at Caroline.

"I like you," he stated, making it clear he'd been listening in on the conversation. Then he stepped closer to Elijah, elbowing him. "Leave the lovely lady alone, brother."

Elijah's eyes closed briefly as he sighed, and Caroline got the idea Kol made a habit of walking into rooms and interrupting things.

"This is not your business, Kol."

"Nor is it yours, from what I hear."

"Something you were not _supposed_ to be hearing."

Kol spread his arms, reminding her of Klaus. "Perhaps you should not accost ladies in public areas then."

Elijah had opened his mouth, ready to counter, when someone else joined the conversation.

"Enough!"

An annoyed sigh left Caroline's lips as she looked at Mikael.

He regarded his sons.

"Leave us."

"Father – " Kol began.

"I said leave us!"

Elijah sighed quietly and Kol shot her an apologetic look before they both left.

Her back straightened as Mikael neared.

"You must be feeling good about yourself."

She could've beat around the bush but she already knew what he was upset about.

"My current emotional state is pride – for William."

He smiled and it was mean. "Oh, there is no need to pretend. Admit you enjoyed watching him belittle me. The entire village heard your whoreish screeches, after all."

Her mouth fell open.

He looked satisfied and she immediately took a step closer, trying to employ the same technique she had this morning with Finn.

Unfortunately then she'd had the advantage of her opposition having an idea of how dangerous she was. To Mikael she was just a lowly woman who spoke too much.

She thought of showing him then immediately shot down the thought. Physically hurting him or engaging in the insult-athon was definitely tempting but she didn't want to stoop to his level.

"What I was enjoying was watching William claim his rightful victory."

He seemed angered by this.

"You encouraged him."

"It's funny, you did not seem opposed to the idea of a duel until you _lost_."

"It is funny, you seemed beautiful until you opened your mouth."

She gasped then folded her arms.

"Yes, well, not all men are intimidated by a woman who speaks her mind."

"Perhaps not – unfortunately it is not as enticing when the mind of the woman in question is _empty_."

Ok, not hitting this guy was beginning to take up every single ounce of resistance she had.

"William seems to think differently," she eventually said, glaring daggers.

He smirked cruelly. "Yes, well, I hardly find it surprising that William has a taste for brainless blonde bitches."

She took a step back as if he'd struck her, thinking the same thing over and over.

 _Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. Not in front of him._

"I hope putting someone else down has made you feel better about losing. If you will excuse me."

With that she all but ran out, heading toward her bedroom so she could cry in private.

She screeched when a hand enclosed around her arm, about to throw it off or break Mikael's wrist, whichever came easiest, when she turned and saw it was Klaus.

"What's wrong, love?"


	20. Chapter 20

Can you guys believe we're on chapter 20 already?!

So, this is to make up for the previous short non-Klaroline chapter: a chapter of over 2 000 words with only Klaroline!

Hope you enjoy :)

* * *

A tear spilled over.

Furious with herself for not making it into her room in time, she glared at Klaus before muttering something unintelligible and opening the door, shaking herself free of him as she pushed into her room.

"Caroline," he sighed, following her in.

"Can you just leave me alone?"

"What happened?" he asked gently, joining her on her bed.

"Nothing," she bit out as more tears spilled over. "Nothing happened."

He sighed but said nothing else and after a few seconds she turned to him with a glare, though its impact was lessened somewhat by how wet her eyes were.

"You can hardly expect me to believe that when you're crying," he pointed out. "Besides, Kol came to me in a rush telling me that I was to find you immediately, and I doubt it was because _nothing_ was happening."

She was surprised and touched. She hadn't expected Kol to do that.

Still, she wasn't loving Klaus' double standards.

"How come when I ask you what's wrong it's ok to say nothing but when the situation is reversed, I absolutely have to tell you what happened?"

He blinked, surprised, then – slowly – a smirk formed.

"Because I was being a jerk."

She couldn't help it, she smiled. "Well, that's _definitely_ true."

Pulling her legs up onto the bed, she crossed them and turned to face Klaus.

"You first."

He stared at her but she didn't give in and eventually he sighed.

"Ok."

But he didn't say anything else just yet, and she sucked in a breath when he reached forward to touch her.

Slowly he wiped the tears away from her cheek.

His other hand came up to mirror the action on her other cheek and it struck her how tenderly he was holding and stroking her face.

Her eyes met his and she realised they were both marvelling in having so much skin touching each other.

She was just getting used to the sensation of his warm calloused fingers when he removed them, having finished drying her face.

"Um, thanks," she muttered, ducking her head shyly. "So – what happened?"

He sighed heavily and on impulse, seeing it in her eyeline, she placed her hand lightly over his.

They both stared at it for a while before he finally spoke.

"I went to see my mother this morning."

"Oh great," she said sarcastically. "I'm guessing she didn't _cuddle_ you into a bad mood?"

He chuckled, shaking his head. "No, that she did not."

"Ok, so…"

He sighed again. "It occurred to me that she knew who my real father is; that he may still be in or near the village."

Caroline's eyes widened.

She hadn't thought about that at all, though it was so obvious now that she had no clue how she hadn't.

"Oh, wow," she breathed.

He nodded. "I wanted his name."

She groaned. "And she was a bitch about it?"

"She thought it would interfere with her marriage."

"God I'm so sick of everyone in this family being so terrified of Mikael," she muttered.

"You're not alone in that opinion," he growled.

She let out a long breath.

"So she didn't tell you?"

He shook his head. "She steadfastly refused. Even under… duress."

"Meaning you threatened to kill her?"

He laughed. "You know me well."

She shook her head in amusement.

"You realise we need her to get home?"

"Something she was quick to remind me of," he nodded. "Which is why she still breathes."

She felt sheepish. "I'm sorry you didn't get his name."

She squeezed his hand a little and he smiled.

"It's not your fault. We do need to return home."

Thinking of Mikael, she agreed bitterly. "Yeah."

"Which brings us back to what made you cry."

"Who," she corrected, before looking evenly at him. "Mikael."

Immediately Klaus reacted, his jaw clenching as he looked away, his hands curling into fists as he clearly tried to prevent himself from exploding.

"It's mostly my fault," she attempted calming him. "I mean, yeah, he was a dick, but I was only crying because what he said struck a nerve – it was something that people used to say about me, back in…" She cleared her throat, ashamed. "Back in my more superficial human days."

Klaus frowned, looking back at her.

"What did he say?"

The words still stung, but she forced herself to say them.

"He called me a… brainless blonde bitch."

Moving at vampire speed, she blocked the doorway from him.

"Caroline, move."

"He was mad and I was just being sensitive. It's not a big deal. It would've happened if anyone had said it."

"But he's the one who did."

"I don't want you to go out there."

He was still staring at her, mutiny in his eyes, and after a few seconds she sighed. She knew that if his mind was set on confronting his father, he would do it, whether now or later.

She just wished he'd get why she didn't want him doing that.

Folding her arms, she left the doorway, heading back toward the bed.

"I don't need you to defend my honour."

She would never tell him so but what mattered more to her, in terms of boyfriend material, was someone who was there to help her through the pain instead of trying to pummel it head-on.

In her weaker moments, when she'd fantasised and wondered about _really_ dating him, that was one of the things that counted against him in her mental tally.

Lying in bed the night of their date, her mind had run amok with so many thoughts, a fair amount related to the adorable way he'd teased and laughed with her.

But then she'd thought: He'll never be there for me.

Her head whipped around when the bed dented next to her, a surprised smile flickering onto her face when she saw him beside her again.

"Is there anything you _do_ need from me?" he asked a little hesitantly, seeming out of his comfort zone.

It was adorable.

"This works," she informed him, smiling.

He smiled back and she found herself cataloguing the differences.

She'd spent enough time with Past Klaus to know he smiled much more easily than this one did; that there wasn't quite as much haunting behind his eyes. Past Klaus' eyes were playful; inviting.

But this was the Klaus she knew. Everything about his eyes and the way he smiled was what she'd been hopelessly falling for for so much longer than she'd ever dare admit.

Every time she looked at him their entire tentative past fluttered in her stomach like butterflies.

She found her gaze drawn to his neck, clear of hair, unlike Past Klaus'.

Brazened by her thoughts, her hand went to the nape of his neck, fisting in the short hair there.

"I like your hair like this."

He looked surprised by her confession for a few moments, before smirking smugly.

"I'm glad."

She rolled her eyes at his reaction but smiled.

"Do you think he'll cut his hair like this in the future because he saw yours like this?"

He chuckled. "I thought you said we were working with alternate timeline time travel?"

She shrugged. "Well it's not like we know, so I pick whichever I want when it's helpful to my point."

He laughed and she grinned before her eyes moved back to her hand, where it fell into his neck.

It was as soft as she'd imagined; in her fantasies laying multiple kisses down the sexy arch.

Except – in her fantasies he didn't stiffen.

Quickly she pulled her hand away.

"I'm sorry."

He caught her hand.

"You don't have to apologise for touching me."

Hesitantly his eyes left hers as he turned her hand around.

She really hoped he was too busy concentrating on whatever he was thinking about to notice that she was breathing raggedly as all kinds of kinky thoughts shot through her mind with his hand curled around her wrist the way it was.

A warm thumb rubbed over her pulse and she lowered her gaze to find him staring at the inked outline of a swallow there.

"I like your tattoo."

She blushed. "I got it when I was fifteen and trying to do the most rebellious thing I could think of. So naturally, a swallow."

They laughed together then she pulled a face.

"I should've gotten a skull and crossbones, huh?"

He smiled mysteriously. "Actually, I'm rather inclined toward birds…"

She frowned, wondering that meant, then thought about the story he'd told her about climbing the Andes and listening to that hummingbird's heartbeat.

It had really touched her, much more than she'd let on.

It was so easy to see him as a monster made of blood and guts when she wasn't thinking about him in a suit or admiring his thoughtful artwork or listening to his stories, evidence of an elegant mind.

He looked up at her.

"You're aware nothing Mikael said was true?"

"It used to be," she pointed out.

"I sincerely doubt that."

She was about to respond when she lost her breath as his lips lowered to her wrist. He laid a soft warm kiss there.

It was strangely intimate and she swallowed, her heart racing almost painfully. Desperately she tried to stop thinking about how amazing his lips would feel on hers if they felt that great on just her wrist.

He turned her hand over again and kissed the back of it, as if she were a lady and him a gentleman in some time period that was not theirs but not this one either.

"I find it very difficult to believe you were ever anything less than what you are now," he uttered over her knuckles.

She blinked. "What am I now?"

"The paragon of perfection," he answered simply, shrugging a little.

Her breath caught, not helped by realising he was bowed down in front of her.

Then his head rose and she was forced to contend with his amazing eyes as well.

Doing the only thing she knew how to do in a situation like this, she made a joke.

"Between the two Yous I'm gonna drown in all the flattery."

He smirked – of course he did, because dimples were all she needed to be added into the already overwhelming combination of Take Me Now factors.

"Yes, well, my past self should know better than to set his sights on my fiancée."

She caught herself from smiling at him calling her that, forcing a scoff instead.

"Jealousy and competition with yourself, Klaus? That's narcissistic even for you."

He looked amused but didn't respond, pointedly taking hold of her ring finger and lightly tugging her hand closer until it was back on him, in his neck.

She had no idea what to say or do as she realised his pulse was racing too beneath her palm.

It made it hard for her to breathe.

All she could think of was touching more of him, pulling him on top of her and spreading her legs as wide as they could go…

She had this image in her mind of him without a stitch of clothing and she wanted to know if it matched up with the real thing, extra points if she was admiring him while he was thick inside her, filling her up.

"What are you thinking about?" she wondered, her voice husky as she slightly tightened her grip on his neck.

His tongue darted out to wet his lips and she hoped against hope that his thoughts were going in the same direction.

She hoped that in his mind she was bare and he was spreading her wide open, getting ready to –

"You."

Her eyes jumped to his.

She wondered if he could tell her entire body was on fire.

"I-I – "

"Dinner!"

It was Henrik, she was pretty sure, who had knocked on the door. Unlike Kol he hadn't come in but she was still a little annoyed with his timing.

She'd been about to admit to Klaus that she'd been thinking about him too. Possibly in exactly what context.

…On second thought, maybe Henrik had done her a favour.

"We should go to dinner," she said, removing her hand.

He caught it in midair again and once more she met his burning blue eyes.

"Perhaps we could skip it."

God, yes.

That was her first thought.

Completely insane of course – she had no doubt that Klaus would make her scream the roof off this place and doing so while his family was having dinner seemed just a little inappropriate.

"I don't want Mikael to think I'm hiding," she said instead.

He growled under his breath, his expression immediately turning mutinous.

"If he so much as says a word to you – "

"Please just let it go," she pleaded. "We only have two more days left here and I'd prefer not to spend them on the street."

"Caroline – "

"Besides, your mom is only helping us because she's protecting her marriage. If she has no more marriage to protect, she doesn't help us and we're stuck here."

He sighed then nodded reluctantly.

"You're right."

She grinned sunnily. "Of course I am."

She was still annoyed with their moment being interrupted but she was Caroline Forbes, she took unplanned events in her stride. She'd rocked dying, for god's sake.

And she was really looking forward to owning Mikael.


	21. Chapter 21

:)

* * *

There was actually conversation when they joined the family at the table, but it was muted.

She felt sure it was because Mikael was probably being a dick to everyone too for celebrating Klaus' win.

Her and Klaus sat at the only open chairs at the table, beside Past Klaus, putting her between the both of them. If the appearance of a cellphone wouldn't have freaked everyone out, she totally would've taken a selfie right now. She'd hashtag it #KlausSandwich.

"William, would you pass the bread, please," Esther asked, and Klaus complied, without meeting her eyes.

Caroline noticed tiny purplish-white sprigs on top of the bread and frowned, watching Klaus hold the plate carefully as he passed it.

"Francella's?" Mikael asked.

"Indeed," Esther nodded.

"And? What is the talk of the town today?"

Everyone exchanged awkward glances and Esther drew a long breath.

It was Elijah who answered.

"Everyone was rather intrigued by you and William's friendly duel this afternoon."

Mikael's eyes hardened and Caroline suddenly grew fearful for everyone at the table.

Her instinct was proven right when Rebekah spoke – clearly to break the tension – her voice shaky.

"Caroline, Niklaus tells me he introduced you to Francella today, is that right?"

Uncomfortable, not least because of _Rebekah_ trying to _resolve_ tension instead of create it, Caroline nodded mechanically.

"Yes."

"Niklaus introduced you?" Mikael suddenly asked.

"Yes." She met his eyes coolly. "He did."

"Why would he do such a thing?"

"He introduced me to many people. He gave me a tour of the village."

He seemed amused, in that cruel way he had.

"Just how many of my sons would you like?"

"Mikael," Esther attempted.

"Excuse me?" Caroline gasped.

"Father," Elijah began.

"Mikael," Klaus growled.

"Are you hard of hearing as well as dim-witted?" Mikael continued, ignoring the rest, his eyes on her.

"Father," Past Klaus began.

"Quiet, Niklaus," Mikael snarled.

"What I _am_ , is done with your belittlements." She stood. "I will be back once you learn how to respect a woman. Excuse me."

She didn't pay attention to anything else as she left except for putting one foot in front of the other.

She thought she heard Klaus explode but it wasn't something she could think about.

All she hoped was that it wouldn't anger Esther too much. Caroline wanted to go home, badly. This world confused and hurt her and Mikael had actually managed to be worse than she'd expected, which was really saying something.

When she'd put distance between herself and the Mikaelson household, she stopped, looking at her hands.

They were shaking.

Quickly she put them to work, pushing them through her hair then finally putting her hair tie to use, pulling her hair up into a ponytail.

She held her hands up in front of her again, noting gratefully that they were steadier.

Glancing back at the house, she saw Klaus standing in the doorway. His jaw was clenched as he watched her evenly, his eyes still stormy.

In an instant he was before her and she stepped back with a surprised breath.

"Are you alright?" he asked, all traces of war wiped from his expression, worry having replaced the anger in his eyes.

She nodded. "Are you?" She gestured with her head towards the house. "Everyone in there still alive?"

He grinned. "Well, I'm not covered in blood."

"Always a good sign," she smiled.

His smile brightened and he took her by the arm.

"Come on."

She was grateful when she noticed that he was leading her away from the house but not in the direction of the village either.

She cleared her throat, feeling sheepish. "I'm sorry."

"No, I am." Klaus shook his head disgustedly. "He's…" He seemed to struggle with himself then sighed. "There's no excuse."

"I can't believe you grew up with that guy."

"Considering I'm so well-adjusted and all?" he teased, shooting her a look.

She broke out into giggles. They wound down quickly when his hand slid down to hers.

Coming to a stop, she looked at him.

"Thanks."

If she hadn't laughed she may have cried.

It was so difficult being here with barely any support and antagonists every way she turned.

"Well, it's the least I could do."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

He looked away before meeting her eyes again.

"You were right about this morning. It was…" He drew a breath. "Liberating."

She ducked her head. "I'm sure you and Mikael would've pulled swords on each other at some point. That's if I didn't, first."

He smiled lightly then sombred again.

"It was more than that. You believed in me; cheered me on."

"Well… I was thinking about it and figured – maybe this moment in time isn't poignant because it's just before your family gets turned, but because this was where you needed to come back to to get closure."

He stared at her for so long that she began to shift, feeling uncomfortable.

"You are quite possibly the most intelligent woman I have ever met, Caroline Forbes."

She bit her lip to keep from smiling.

"What, you're saying I'm not _dim-witted_?" she teased.

He scoffed. "Mikael would not know intelligence if it landed and set up shop on his oversized ego."

That set her off laughing again, and Klaus smiled, pulling on her hand.

"Come on, I want to show you something."


	22. Chapter 22

Hey guys! I'm sorry, I know it's been a while. I've been trying though, I promise. And now I'm here with a chapter :)

For all the people asking for longer chapters, I hope this satisfies.

Leave me a review if ya liked it

xx

* * *

"Wow."

It had taken much more walking than yesterday followed by some climbing to get up here but it was totally worth it.

Klaus had taken her around the village then up to a hill much higher than the one they'd been on yesterday. From it she could see the village and beyond; the Falls.

"This is amazing."

"I must admit I was expecting a snide comment about my penchant for looking down on things."

She shot him a glare. "It's coming."

Chuckling, he sat then held a hand out to her.

After a quick second of hesitation she took it, lowering herself beside him before shooting him a teasing look.

"So, I bet you brought all your girls here, huh?"

Klaus laughed, dimples out in full swing.

"No, actually I came here to be alone." He sighed thoughtfully and she watched him closely as he looked off into the night. "With my thoughts, usually. Often to get away from Mikael; sketch."

She could imagine that.

It had grown dark but the peak of the hill wasn't sheltered by trees at all – combined with its height, the spot was lit brightly by moonlight.

There was silence for a few seconds, Klaus seeming lost in memory, before he regarded her with a sly smile.

"I took all my girls to the _caves_."

Giggling, she elbowed him, and they broke into laughter.

When it wound down she sighed peacefully, looking out over the village again.

It was strange to think that she'd only been here for one full day.

Not that she was properly acclimated yet, but it just seemed like so much had happened. Literally, but also inside her mind.

She remembered, just yesterday, thinking about how she couldn't let Klaus become her safe haven. Now she was revelling in it – in both Klauses, honestly.

She couldn't help it, she really liked them both – a lot.

Past Him had given her something edible when she'd needed it and this one had brought her here – comfort after Mikael's epic display of douchebaggery.

It was all so strange though, knowing one man would become the other and yet they were so different.

She wondered at the specifics of the transformation that had occurred.

It wasn't something she'd ever given much thought to before but she couldn't help it now, especially while looking out over his village.

It was easy to imagine this place becoming Mystic Falls. But imagining Klaus going from the person he was here now and the things he liked and didn't like; the way he treated people and laughed – to the person he would become in the future, was so difficult to imagine.

A thousand years in theory was fine to grapple with – it was just something to make fun of him about. But actually trying to comprehend one thousand years of being alive was insane to her. _One hundred_ was odd and miraculous to humans.

"I have kind of a strange request…"

He cocked a brow.

"Roadside kinkery?"

"Oh my god!" she groaned between involuntary giggles, covering her face with her hands. "You are _so_ lucky my battery's dead."

"I was depending on it, actually. Smartphones are fairly unreliable that way," he tutted, pretending innocence.

"You're unbelievable."

He grinned, clearly somehow managing to take the statement as a compliment.

"So, not roadside kinkery, then?"

"I _will_ snap your neck."

He chuckled. "What was your request, love?"

She glared at him for a while – the effect probably somewhat diminished by her bright pink cheeks, but whatever – before speaking again once she looked back out over the village.

"I was wondering if you could tell me what it was like being the first vampires ever." He was silent beside her and she continued: "I mean, the experience freaked me the hell out and I _knew_ what vampires _were._ I was just really attached to the idea that they were only fictional, but you didn't even have that."

She turned to look at him and saw him nodding in slow agreement.

"It was…" He struggled with himself for the second time that night, clearly deep in thought, then shrugged. "Terrifying."

Her eyes widened. She didn't think she'd ever heard him admit to being scared before.

"My father insisted on the spell and my mother performed it but neither of them had had any idea of the consequences. All they wanted us to have was the ability to defend ourselves efficiently from the wolves. What we got was something different altogether."

"A curse," she whispered.

"Initially," he nodded. He looked down at his lap, jaw clenching. "When I woke there was this… thirst in the back of my throat, it burned – "

"Like someone had taken a straight razor to it," she nodded.

Sharply he met her eyes and they were so questioning that she was forced to explain.

"I was alone," she admitted, pushing hair back behind her ear.

She had no idea why, but she felt shy sharing this with him.

It also occurred to her that she'd never really spoken about this before, not really; not with someone who could understand like he could.

"I was so confused. It took me hours to remember Katherine putting that pillow over my face. All I knew was the agony in the back of my throat and how freaking good all the blood around me looked." He frowned and she clarified: "I woke up in a hospital. Damon had given me his blood so I would heal up after a car crash."

He nodded slowly, taking in all of this.

"Then you're well aware of the terror."

He was looking at her somewhat sadly, like he wished she hadn't had to experience what she had.

She wished that too, in a way. But it had made her stronger.

And now they had that to share, too.

Suddenly he looked away, something strange crossing his eyes. Bitter, but shameful. Definitely a painful memory.

"Eventually we killed, it was inevitable. Which of course exposed my mother's little secret."

For a second she didn't understand and then it all came rushing back to her: Tyler's desperate screams, holding his head; panicked yellowed eyes.

"You activated your werewolf gene," she breathed.

"After which it was promptly suppressed by Esther," he breathed, before meeting her eyes evenly; solidly. "So I killed her."

The hair on her arms stood up, causing her to shiver a little.

She'd known about him murdering his mother, of course, but the way he'd just said it had sounded so cold, like he felt no remorse at all.

"I ripped her heart from her chest." Slowly he searched her eyes, seemingly expecting to find something mysteriously specific there, then looked away again. "After that it was a matter of figuring it out for ourselves. Vampirism along with adulthood and the world. Changing times; modernity. Through Kol we learned of the humanity switch – he revelled in every experience and this was no different. Unfortunately it was also an experience which cost hundreds upon hundreds of lives."

She shivered again. She'd never before considered what it must have been like to discover the humanity switch; its power and dangers.

When she'd become a vampire she'd just gotten all the rules mapped out for her by Stefan. It was strange to think of the Original family discovering and warily traversing all these unknowns when she was so used to them _abusing_ all the power that came with vampirism.

She wanted to ask how they'd managed to get Kol to turn it back on but decided it was probably a story for a different time.

Instead she concentrated hard on Klaus' story again, taking in every detail.

"Elijah, Rebekah and I resolved never to do it ourselves. Slowly we learned to control our thirst instead. We became skilled at compulsion. A hundred years passed and we no longer saw vampirism as a curse, it became an experiment; a game. We killed and drank and compelled for sport; turned others. My own line which, of course, leads all the way to you."

She'd been listening so intently, transported by his voice and descriptions, that she had to shake herself and look away when she realised he'd stopped talking.

Thinking over his last sentence, she bit at the inside of her lip before deciding to make a silent confession.

"I don't think I'll ever turn someone."

He let her statement hang there for a second before replying.

"It's easier than you realise, once you begin seeing vampirism as a blessing instead of a curse."

She already had, a little.

But she'd never told anyone that, and it wasn't something she was about to tell him.

"Of course, then you come to realise that as immortals some _people_ can become blessings or curses, and you begin to share your blood far less freely," he smiled charmingly.

She rolled her eyes but her heart wasn't in it.

On her arms, the soft blond hairs still stood on end no matter how much she tried to put it out of her mind.

"What's wrong?" he asked after a moment, sounding worried.

"Nothing, really," she shook her head. "It's just, the way you spoke about some things, like killing your mom… I – I've never heard you speak like that."

She'd heard a lot about Klaus the monster and the stories were never anything she'd ever had any difficulty believing – a guy that easy on the eyes with a smirk that devilish definitely did _not_ mean good news.

But, her _actual_ experiences with Klaus had been limited to the type where they walked through the Lockwood gardens and he teased her with her Miss Mystic application; or told her of his ponderings about humanity.

It was so difficult to reconcile all the different sides of him, and it had definitely never been more difficult than now, when there were two literal versions of him.

"Well, I assumed you wanted honesty, and Esther was my first intentional kill. Besides…"

He cut himself off and after a minute of him not continuing, she frowned.

"Besides, what?"

He sighed, his jaw clenched, and it took him a moment to meet her eyes.

"I don't want your estimation of me to change, especially not given our current circumstances."

"I… don't understand."

He spread his arms, gesturing. "You've gotten a glimpse into the way I grew up, Caroline." He drew a breath. "I'm aware that that could possibly inspire sympathy but… I am not him, not by a long shot; not anymore. And the differences between us are as a result of choices I intentionally made over several hundred years."

She was frozen at first but she finally forced herself into movement, nodding to show that she understood.

He was taking responsibility for himself and his actions.

He didn't want her making any decisions based only on what she saw here.

He wanted her to accept all of him.

"Um I should – I should probably tell you something."

He'd looked away but now he met her eyes, frowning curiously.

"It seems like a million years ago now – or, well, technically a thousand years _from_ now, I guess, but you know what I mean – remember when I came to you yesterday morning, accusing you of doing something to Bonnie?"

He nodded. "And you gave me the medallion."

She weighed up her next confession carefully, knowing it would likely lead somewhere dangerous.

"I knew you didn't do anything to her."

He made a sound of surprise but she kept her eyes trained on her lap, thinking back to the events of that morning.

Bonnie had arrived at her front door in a panic. Caroline had been trying to calm her down enough to get something coherent from the witch when she'd mumbled something, something like 'Uh oh'. Caroline had frowned as Bonne tried to reach out to her; pass her what was in her hand. "It's Esther's" was the last thing she'd said before disappearing.

"When Bonnie disappeared, I was freaked. I had no idea what to do or think. I was shaking. Then suddenly I was in my car and the next thing I knew I was at your house."

She shot a quick covert look at him. He seemed confused.

"It took me a few seconds to realise that… I'd come there because I knew you'd make me feel better and would know what to do; would help me fix it." She sighed. "But I knew I couldn't tell you that, so I came up with the excuse that I thought _you'd_ done whatever had happened to her. For a minute there I even had myself believing it."

It was a while before he spoke.

"You're a very convincing actress," he offered, neutrally.

She smiled a little at that, before finally lifting her head to look at him again.

"My point is that I know it seems like things have changed since we came here but it's because…" She struggled as he held her eyes; struggled for a breath. "It's just because it's been harder to hide my feelings for you here."

He stared back at her as she barely breathed, terrified that she'd just crossed a line she could never re-cross.

Then he smirked.

"And which feelings are those, love?"

Deciding _that_ was definitely something she wasn't gonna answer – a line she absolutely wasn't ready to cross – she cleared her throat, getting to her feet.

"We should probably get back." She pulled a face. "That's _if_ we have anything to get back to."

For a quick second she thought she saw disappointment on his expression but it was wiped away quickly as he stood.

"I told Mikael that if he didn't apologise to you, I'd be returning home with the message of what an awful host he was, never mind the fact that he'd turned away a son."

She raised an eyebrow, impressed. Mikael was far too proud to let something like that spread into the village, never mind the faraway land they were supposedly from.

"I doubt the apology will ever make it to daylight but at the very least we should still have a place to sleep."

"Awesome," she grinned as they began walking down the slope of the hill, surrounded by trees. "One less thing I have to worry about. Blood being at the top of the worrying list."

"I'm glad." Then he frowned. "As for the blood situation, I'm not sure what to do."

She snorted. "I thought Klaus the Big Bad always had a plan."

He smiled amusedly. "That counts only for things that aren't near impossibilities, such as time travel."

Fair point.

"Did you see the vervain on the bread earlier?"

Frowning, she remembered the sprigs she'd noticed Klaus ever so carefully avoid touching.

"That's what that was?"

He nodded. "We used to use it for all sorts of things. Which means anyone here could be filled to the brim with it. The only safe test is compulsion, which could prove sticky if the person is in fact on vervain."

"Crap," she realised.

"It's not ideal," he sighed.

"Well we're gonna have to do something," she pointed out. "I usually have about a bag a day and it's been two days with nothing."

"I'll think of something."

She nodded gratefully then frowned when she saw him shooting her a pointed look.

"What?"

"Well I was simply thinking – if you were really struggling, you could always drink from me."

Stunned, she stopped walking, then immediately forced a scoff.

"Drinking from you is for emergency situations _only_."

He smirked. "You know, sweetheart, there are far more pleasurable things to be doing while drinking my blood than dying."

Her eyebrow jumped up of its own accord.

Had that just been an innuendo?

From the teasing look in his eyes she was guessing yes, but there was only one way to find out…

"Like what?"

His smirk became slyer and she suddenly knew he'd taken it as a challenge.

Completely accidentally she'd constructed a game and the rules were simple – if he said what he really meant, he lost. And she could tell he definitely didn't intend on losing.

"Like… _for example_ , a massage," he smiled craftily.

She broke out into a grin even as her heart seemed to patter in her throat.

"Well… you'd first have to _convince me_ to _let_ you give me a massage."

He looked amused by this.

"Oh, sweetheart, there'll be no convincing once you experience what my fingers are capable of."

His gaze dropped and her breath caught, needing absolutely no more description to know unquestionably what he was talking about.

Still, it wouldn't hurt.

"What would that be?"

His gaze scorched as it rose to meet hers again.

Her stomach did flip flops as she imagined him on top of her instead of in front of her; looking down at her naked form with those piercing blue eyes.

She gasped when he touched her hip ever so slightly, trailing his hand around and onto her stomach.

"Oh, sweetheart, you'll find out as soon I put them to work, pushing until you're keeling and I know precisely the speed you like it."

She was barely breathing as he spoke, imagining his fingers a few inches further down, buried deep inside her, twisting and scissoring as he slowly licked his lips, still staring deep into her eyes like he wasn't killing her with every touch.

He'd been backing her against a tree and now she gasped as she hit it, with nowhere left to go.

"Then I'd find that _tight_ bundle of nerves," he began huskily as he leaned in closer, sending heat rushing to her core as her chest heaved with the pressure he was applying to her clit in her imagination. "Get it nice and lubricated before alternating maddeningly between rubbing and pressing down hard with my thumb until you _come_ …"

He'd leaned over, whispering the last word right into her ear and she whimpered, realising she was soaking wet.

"loose," he continued, keeping himself in the game. He pulled back to look straight at her, smirking. "Your back arches and you're moaning when you drop your fangs into my wrist – or neck, whichever you prefer – "

"Neck," she found herself whispering out, lost in the fantasy and his eyes.

He smiled and it made her ache.

"I don't stop, of course. Not until you're whimpering and utterly satisfied a second time."

God, she was practically coming right now, just with what he was doing to her in her imagination and everything else he could probably do to her that he couldn't describe without breaking metaphor.

Her legs around his shoulders with his face between her thighs, _for example_ , his tongue doing everything and more he'd just described with his fingers.

She realised he was smirking, most likely knowing exactly what was going through her mind.

"T-then you're pretty good at massages, huh?"

He wet his lips. "Incredible."

Forcing herself to take a deep calming breath, she edged out from between him and the tree, putting some much-needed distance between them.

He frowned a little but she smiled.

"Well – I'm not so bad myself."

Immediately the smirk was back.

"Is that so?"

Walking backwards, she grinned at him teasingly.

"Uh huh."


	23. Chapter 23

Hahahaha I loved the comments about only two days having passed. I know, it's pretty crazy. So much has happened. Day 2, man. And, speaking of which, with this chapter Day 2 _finally_ comes to an end!

Hope you enjoy :)

* * *

She sped off.

With no one around, it was the first time in what felt like forever that she'd been able to use her vampire speed, and she revelled in it.

The idea of playing cat and mouse with Klaus had come from the fact that she'd had no idea how to continue that conversation with him, short of stripping naked.

But now that she could hear his chuckles and feel tingles across her skin, she decided it had been a pretty awesome idea.

Except, of course, that the idea behind it had been to cool herself off and instead she felt further heat rushing straight to her core at the prospect of him finding her.

In her mind he caught her by the waist, undid his pants, lifted her dress and lowered her onto his rock hard –

On instinct, she sped off again, and felt smug when she realised she'd been right.

One more second and he would've caught her.

Adrenaline rushed through her veins as she kept tabs on where exactly they were, how far till they were back home and where he was in relation to herself.

She rushed off then screeched when she felt hands encircle her hips.

Her breath rushed from her chest when he pulled her hips flush with his.

"You're quite wily, aren't you?" he smiled, his breath fanning over her face.

"I like to think of myself as simply awesome," she breathed.

He smiled, charmed, and she drew a breath to pull herself together.

Finally managing to think straight even under his heated gaze, she put her hands on his sides, eliciting a gasp from him.

He leaned forward to say something and it was exactly the opportunity she'd needed.

Using her grip on him, she pushed. Caught unaware and unbalanced, Klaus staggered back.

She sped off.

First only a few feet away, pausing to smile triumphantly, before rushing right back to his house.

He met her at the front door two seconds later, shaking his head in amusement.

"I win," she grinned.

"You cheated."

"That's what all losers say," she winked.

He laughed. "I'm telling Henrik about this tomorrow."

"Telling the children is the first step to Sore Loserville, Klaus."

He stepped closer and she suddenly became acutely aware of the fact that she was up against the doorway and that he had no intention of stopping his advance.

She backed up as much as was possible but her shins quickly hit concrete.

Desperately she went back to their teasing remarks.

"You're really slow, you know."

He was less than an inch away.

"You're beautiful," he countered.

She flushed and he finally came to a stop, with their chests lightly touching.

"You didn't find me," she pointed out, for something to say.

"Didn't I?" he smirked.

She scoffed. "This doesn't count."

He cocked his head, looking at her thoughtfully. "And if I had, what was the winner's reward?"

A breath left her as her gaze lowered to his lips, full and pink and, really, _unfairly irresistible_.

Her hand fell into his neck as she leaned forward.

The distance was tiny and her eyes fell closed as her lips began to brush against his.

"Ahem."

Her eyes popped back open, her head jolting back in surprise. Instantly Klaus placed a hand behind it, stopping it from cracking into the wall behind her.

She met his eyes for the quickest of seconds before they both turned to look at who had interrupted them.

Elijah.

He stood there looking at them as if they'd kept him from going to sleep and not unlike he found their current activity irksome.

"Brother," Klaus said, in a tone that she recognised as the one he used a moment before ripping someone's head off.

"Good evening. I have been awaiting for your return so as to offer you and Caroline, as our esteemed guests, my father's humblest apologies."

"Has our father waited too?" Klaus asked with a straight face, and Caroline almost burst out laughing.

"Unfortunately, considering the time, he has retired for the evening."

Caroline had to stop herself from snorting. She was pretty sure they could've come back two hours ago while Mikael was still digesting his dinner, and he wouldn't have apologised himself.

Seeing he wasn't going to get a reply from either, Elijah bowed his head a little.

"I hope you will have a restful evening."

"Thanks, Elijah," she gave in. "Goodnight."

He nodded then left, leaving the front door open.

Clearing her throat, she looked back at Klaus, noticing that he'd barely moved an inch away from her.

"Uh, that was… awkward," she pulled a face. "But I guess at least we have somewhere to sleep."

He smiled. "Indeed."

He drew his hand out from behind her head then tenderly pushed some hair out of her face, caressing her cheek as he went.

"Thanks for catching me," she breathed.

Her skull very likely would've cracked at the speed she'd moved at, and while it wouldn't have been fatal, she wouldn't have wanted to explain to Elijah why a serious head wound had left nothing behind but a little blood.

"Hybrid reflexes," he shrugged.

She nodded and her gaze dropped accidentally, catching on his lips for a second.

He smiled a little and she blushed, realising he'd caught her staring.

But she hesitated, and he drew back a little to meet her eyes.

"So you know, I'm not willing to pretend nothing happened before Elijah's interruption."

Drawing in a shaky breath, she tried and failed to avoid eye contact.

"I don't think either of us can pretend anything that happened tonight didn't."

He looked surprised by her reply, then determined.

"Then let me kiss you."

Lightly he brushed his thumb over her lower lip, slowly, and it trembled, as did her body.

It took every ounce of willpower she had to think straight.

"I-I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because…"

Because she didn't think she'd be able to stop it at just one kiss.

She could still feel the dampness between her legs.

"It's late, it's been a seriously long day and I could really use some sleep."

She didn't even try to meet his eyes as she spoke. The fact they both knew she was using a trivial excuse would only be more evident in his gaze.

He looked disappointed but he nodded, backing up.

"Goodnight, Caroline."

For a second the look on his face almost made her change her mind, but then she let out a long breath.

"Night."


	24. Chapter 24

GUYS! Over 300 reviews on this story! Y'all make me so incredibly happy I cannot. Thank you so much. I hope you accept this chapter as a token of my appreciation ;) (perfect timing you guys have, I must say).

As requested, I am hereby issuing a warning for this not to be read in public if you are a squirmer.

xx

* * *

 _"Can you pass the salt?"_

 _It was passed to her, but a moment later a familiar hand landed on her wrist._

 _"Are you enjoying your birthday?"_

 _She looked up at Klaus on her right. He was frowning._

 _"It's my birthday?"_

 _His frown deepened._

 _"I think she is playing with us."_

 _Her head whipped sharply to the left to find the source of the voice, only to see that it was… Klaus._

 _Her eyes widened as she took in the neck-length hair and easy smile; leather garb._

 _She turned back to her right to see Klaus, short-haired and in a black suit. He looked concerned._

 _"You seem bothered."_

 _"I just forgot it was my birthday," she attempted a smile, still trying to figure out what was going on._

 _She noted the intimate table, set elegantly before her, with two lit candles in the middle. The atmosphere was warm and there was soft music coming from somewhere._

 _"I told you she was playing with us," Niklaus chuckled._

 _Klaus' hand slipped into hers and she was forced to meet his eyes again._

 _"Are you sure you're alright?"_

 _"Yeah, like I said, I just – "_

 _"You're all dressed up, love," he pointed out._

 _She looked down to see that he was right._

 _She wore a crop top styled as a corset with a light cotton skirt that stopped in the middle of her thighs, followed an inch later by thigh high stockings. They were black with little bows on the top, and led down to platform heels._

 _She was definitely dressed up – clearly at_ some _point today she'd known it was her birthday._

 _"I'm sorry," she found herself saying._

 _"No need to apologise," he assured, ducking his head to leave a chaste kiss on the back of her hand. "I think what you need is just to relax."_

 _She nodded absently and he let her hand go, standing._

 _She shot a look at Niklaus who was regarding her strangely, as if he knew something she didn't, but she ignored him, opting to focus on her food instead._

 _Suddenly she froze when she felt hands on her shoulders, Klaus' hands._

 _The massage was nice though, and she let herself relax into it as she focused on cutting the prime steak in front of her._

 _Then her hair was swept away from the right side of her neck and a kiss laid on her bare shoulder._

 _Wait. Were they… together?_

 _Nothing was making sense right now._

 _Only… Klaus' kisses were really nice._ Really _nice. Better than nice, actually._

 _They were slowing down and his stubble was moving across her sensitive skin at just the right pace that her eyes began dropping closed…_

 _She jolted. Her eyes flew open to see exactly what she thought she'd felt._

 _Niklaus had curled his hand around her ankle and now he was lifting her leg, slowly, up and onto his lap. She was watching with wide eyes when her heel toppled to the ground, Niklaus smirking at her._

 _Klaus was still kissing her and she felt heat rushing to her centre even as she realised how wrong even beginning to think what she was thinking about was._

 _Niklaus began laying measured kisses on her stockinged ankle and her breaths started coming unevenly._

 _"Klaus – "_

 _"Just relax, love," he assured her softly, his kisses moving to her jaw._

 _She wasn't sure whether the fact that he was ok with this should make her feel better or freak her out even more._

 _But it was becoming difficult to think_ at all _as Niklaus' kisses went higher on her leg and Klaus' amazing scent wafted around her._

 _Suddenly Klaus was beside her, and she opened her eyes to see him kneeling next to her chair. Laying a hand in her neck he pulled her gently downward._

 _A short gasp escaped her lips right before he kissed her._

 _Heat was coursing through her as he played with the ribbon on her stocking cavalierly and she could barely focus on his lips on hers when his fingers were so close to her thighs._

 _His tongue traced a hot pattern on her lower lip and she parted her lips then slipped her arms around his neck to pull him closer. She felt him smile before deepening the kiss and she tightened her arms around him, leaning closer._

 _Roughly she was pulled back to the centre of the chair, and she squeaked into Klaus' mouth, then quickly relaxed when she felt Niklaus tug on the top of her stocking. She_ wanted _it gone._

 _In a second it was, ripped right down the middle, her gasp falling on Klaus' tongue._

 _Her entire body jerked violently when a hot mouth settled right over her core._

 _Her fingernails dug into Klaus' neck as Niklaus began sucking at her right through her sheer panties. On instinct her left leg wrapped around him, pulling him closer to her. She swore she felt his smile against her._

 _Klaus' hand slipped beneath the line of her stocking and pushed it down, slowly – so slowly she felt she was going to go insane with the mess of sensations her body was currently having to field._

 _The heel of her foot dug into Niklaus' back as his sucking became more enthusiastic and after a few seconds she had to pull away from the kiss, throwing her head back with uncontrollable moans as she attempted breathing. Klaus took the opportunity to lay scorching kisses down her neck and she began biting on her lip so hard she swore she was going to taste blood any minute now._

 _Her other heel dropped._

 _The sound seemed to either signal something or bring the men out of a trance – whichever, they immediately removed themselves from her, and Caroline swore she'd never felt so cold in her entire life._

 _Trying to slow her breathing, she brought her head back down to find that both her stockings and shoes were gone and that the two Klauses stood beside her, looking down at her with little lustful smiles that sent shivers up her spine._

 _Klaus held a hand out to her._

 _"Come on, love."_

 _She took it and he promptly pulled her up out of her chair and straight into a mind-melting kiss._

 _She whimpered under the force of it as he anchored his hands on her neck and she focused on savouring the taste of his tongue; the feel of his body pressed so close against hers._

 _He was still in the full suit though, and she wanted to know what more than his hands felt like against her skin._

 _Concentrating hard, she dipped her hands between them to undo the button on his jacket then reached to push it off his shoulders._

 _He took a small step back with a raised brow and she did her best not to blush._

 _With a little smirk he dropped the jacket from his shoulders and she quickly reached out for the buttons on his shirt; his tie. She'd just gotten rid of the latter when she felt hands on her from behind, on her legs just below her skirt. Her own hands paused as her breathing hitched, faltering as Niklaus' hands came up over her hips. He squeezed and she gasped lightly before his hands went up to her waist, where her skin was bare._

 _Reaching forward, she quickly undid the buttons then slipped Klaus' shirt from his shoulders._

 _He smiled when she wet her lips, marvelling at his amazing torso._

 _Taking a quick step closer, she laid a kiss just below his throat then worked her way down, relishing in the elegant spice of his scent, the soft feel of his skin stretched tight over toned muscles._

 _Her hair was pushed to the side as she made her way down Klaus' chest, Niklaus placing his lips to the nape of her neck tenderly, then kissing her surprisingly roughly, working his way down her shoulder. She jolted when she felt Klaus' hand beneath her skirt, cupping the skin of her ass left bare by her bikini panties._

 _Her eyes were clenched tight as he rubbed the area almost playfully, drawing his fingers around between her legs to the front and then back, closer and closer to her slit each time. It was the most agonising game of seesaw ever and she squeaked when he'd just about reached her entrance._

 _"Klaus, please."_

 _His free hand lifted her chin._

 _"Please?"_

 _She nodded, hesitantly at first then enthusiastically._

 _She needed this. She didn't even care how wrong it was anymore. All she knew was that she needed at least one of them inside her right now._

 _"Well, it is your birthday," he acknowledged coolly, laying a quick kiss on her lips. "Whatever it is you want, love, you get."_

 _Instantly she was up against the table, the chair she'd been sitting on minutes ago behind Klaus._

 _His body was pressed right up against hers and she gasped at the erection she felt pressing into her thigh._

 _His eyes were hungry as he looked down at her and she lost herself in them, earning her another shock when his hands curved around her ass again then to sharply lifted her up onto the table._

 _Behind her she heard the table being cleared, dishes clattering to the floor, and her entire body heated with anticipation._

 _Klaus' hands dropped to her knees._

 _"Spread," he instructed huskily._

 _Wordlessly she obeyed, parting her knees shyly at first then quickly all the way, desperate for whatever he had planned._

 _He seemed pleased, his hands dropping to her calves as he lifted them._

 _Her eyes widened when she realised he'd set her feet on the armrests of the chair behind him, keeping her well and truly open for him._

 _Her cheeks heated as she watched him stare at the most private part of her body, hidden only by the thinnest piece of fabric._

 _Her every breath seemed hitched on his features, tilting when he lifted his hand the slightest inch._

 _Teasingly it went to his mouth, the thumb brushing the corner of his lips as he still stared smugly, no doubt watching her grow increasingly wetter; no doubt smelling the arousal seeping between her legs and practically coming out of her pores._

 _She expected fanfare but when he finally stepped between her legs it was simple._

 _Her underwear was broken then his fingers were on her and in her and her back was arching as he played with her, pumping then retracting and outlining her slit; circling her clit._

 _"Ohmygodohmygod."_

 _Her moans were lost as her lips got taken – the kiss rougher and different._

 _She pulled away for a second to see Niklaus, his lips pulled into a hungry smirk, before he pulled her back in, parting her lips forcefully as he cradled her head gently._

 _Again she was so mixed up in all the sensations that it was almost too much. She swore she would've come right then if not for Klaus' teasing techniques._

 _She was surprised when Niklaus eventually pulled away but it was only for a few seconds and when he pulled her mouth back to his, she noticed something between his lips. It looked like a chocolate and, meeting his eyes for a split second for confirmation, she kissed him around it then bit._

 _Her lips parted a little in surprise when she tasted cherry liqueur on her tongue. Niklaus seemed to enjoy watching as it dripped down over her lips and onto her chin, sticky sweet with half a glazed cherry on her tongue._

 _Immediately Klaus pulled her to him and then they were sharing the liqueur, him sucking the sweet syrup from her tongue as he continued fucking her with his fingers._

 _He kissed her chin, licking up the liqueur there, and it was with a jolt and a severe spike in the amount of wetness surrounding his fingers that she realised where he was going with this._

 _She wasn't wrong, a second later his head was between her legs._

 _She could feel the syrup coat her slit as he licked along it before his tongue entered her and she cried out, her hips jolting upward. Niklaus' hands settled on her hips and she thought it was just to hold her down before one hand slipped beneath her skirt and down to her clit. He mellowed her shouts with a long kiss, nipping roughly at her lips as she skated the edge of her orgasm, her body receiving the best sexual treatment it ever had in her life._

 _"I'm so close, oh my god," she whimpered against Niklaus' mouth, lost to everything but the cliff she wanted to fall off so so badly._

 _For the second time that night, all sensations came to an abrupt halt._

 _"What the f–"_

 _"Shhhh," Niklaus kissed her._

 _Her eyelids fluttered at the amazing sensation but their hand and tongue weren't on her anymore and it made her want to cry._

 _The kiss was over as quickly as it had begun and she was being encouraged to sit up, making eye contact with Klaus._

 _She pulled her best pouty face, all dignity long gone – probably somewhere around the point when she'd decided to have sex with two of the same guy._

 _"Klaus, please let me come."_

 _His smile sent such tremors through her thighs that she wished he weren't standing between them so she could rub them together._

 _"You will, sweetheart, trust me." He leaned in, his lips brushing her ear, and she shivered. "But when you do, it's going to be the best orgasm of your existence – it's going to rip you so far apart you won't be able to think about anything for hours but for the_ exquisite _way I made you_ come _."_

 _She was shaking violently, barely capable of thought already, when he let her legs down from the chair and pulled her from the table. Putting his hand on her waist to give her the support she very desperately needed, he began walking backward._

 _Her eyeline veered to the right for half a second and she frowned when she recognised aeroplane-sized windows. Over Klaus' shoulder, through stained glass, she spotted a bed and suddenly realised that they were in a jet._

 _They were halfway to the bed when they stopped and she gave up breathing altogether when Klaus' hands fell to her hips at the same time as she felt Niklaus' hands curl around to the front of her top, where the hooks to undo it were._

 _Slowly, ever so slowly, Klaus traced the waistband of her skirt as Niklaus made short work of all the hooks on her top. He was halfway finished when Klaus dipped his hands between her skin and ripped panties and brazenly dropped it, along with her skirt. Niklaus pulled her top away, rendering her completely nude, and her breasts bounced with the breakneck tempo of her breathing._

 _She felt so many things that it was hard to think straight – horny, shy,_ so so naked _._

 _"You are beautiful," Niklaus whispered into her ear from behind her._

 _"Perfect," Klaus agreed, nodding, his gaze outlining the curves of her breasts._

 _Her cheeks burned beneath his intense stare that confirmed their words._

 _She was so entranced by his gaze that she barely noticed the way he'd moved her, realising only when her back hit cold glass._

 _He ran a thumb over her lips but there was something in his eyes, something ravenous, and she pondered at it as he kissed her tenderly but briefly before pulling away._

 _Niklaus stepped into her line of vision beside Klaus and she wondered if they were going to fuck her right there, right against the stained glass._

 _She wouldn't even complain – she didn't need a bed for the host of dirty thoughts roaming her mind right now. What did bother her was that Niklaus was still fully dressed and Klaus still wearing his pants._

 _They both stepped forward and she could see that that ravenous look was in both their eyes now, causing an almost painful ache in her core as she contemplated all the different things they could do to her with those devilish glints in their identical eyes and sexy smirks on their perfect lips._

 _"Oh, fuck!" she cried out when they finally took action._

 _The rest of her vocabulary gurgled in her throat as both men pulled her nipples through their teeth._

 _She hadn't been expecting them to each take a breast into their mouths and suck and kiss and nibble as if they had no idea of the insanity they were causing to grip her every coherent thought._

 _She was actually painfully throbbing at this point and with a whimper she dropped her hand down to her thighs, moving it quickly higher._

 _Klaus caught it and she sobbed out a pathetic cry from her throat._

 _He pulled his hot tongue over her nipple one more time before looking up at her._

 _"It's your birthday, remember? This is all about you, sweetheart."_

 _Her breaths were coming in short hot pants and she found it personally surprising that she wasn't in actual tears right now, never mind the fact that she managed speaking._

 _"I don't remember putting torture on my wishlist," she bit out through her teeth._

 _She almost mewled as Niklaus laughed, the vibrations playing against her nipple before he too retracted, looking at Klaus amusedly._

 _"It seems the lady has remembered that it is her birthday."_

 _Klaus smirked, looking to her. "It seems she has."_

 _They were enjoying this, she realised,_ teasing _, as she_ suffered _._

 _Knowing who the easier target was just by way of being familiar with his reactions to her, she turned to the hybrid._

 _"Klaus," she pouted urgently, inserting a little sob into her voice that surprised even her._

 _He seemed to relent immediately, his features softening, albeit into some smug amusement._

 _At this point she really didn't care how much he knew about her desires though – pretty much the only reason she wasn't begging them to fuck her up, down and sideways was because she had neither the mental faculties nor the breath to do so._

 _Sobbing and pouting would just have to do the trick._

 _Klaus stepped back and away, his lips curled into that sexy smirk._

 _"Come on."_

 _She wasn't sure who he'd spoken to – her or Niklaus – but it soon became irrelevant when, as she made to follow after Klaus, Niklaus roughly pulled her by the neck into a kiss that stole her breath away._

 _She lost track of time entirely as his tongue fought against hers and he pancaked his body to hers, deliberately letting her feel his rock hard member pressed into her thigh as the rough leather scratched mercilessly at her sensitive nipples._

 _It could've been years later when he was suddenly torn away from her lips violently._

 _Her eyes opened and she saw the two Klauses staring each other down, Klaus removing his hand from the scruff of his double's neck with a mutinous expression._

 _The staredown was intense – and she probably should not have been getting as wet from it as she was._

 _"_ I said, _come on," Klaus growled._

 _For the first time it occurred to her that maybe they weren't so much sharing her as much as Klaus graciously letting his past self partake in their activities._

 _Was this her birthday gift?_

 _Before she was knew it she was being pulled away. Not roughly but definitely firmly, and she stepped into the bedroom with Klaus._

 _It was tasteful and the bed was big. That was about all she had time to register before Klaus' mouth was on hers, the kiss desperate and, she thought, jealous._

 _His arms encircled her waist before his hands landed on her ass, squeezing and kneading roughly as she moaned onto his tongue._

 _Then he turned them so his back was to the bed and without preamble pulled her down on top of him as he fell backwards._

 _She almost giggled into the kiss at the rough yet playful gesture, and his hands roamed her body hungrily for a few amazing seconds before he perplexed her by flipping her over._

 _She was about to open her eyes and question this when she felt kisses ascend her thighs and she whimpered at Niklaus' stubble scratching the insides of them so pleasantly that her stomach was turning to jello._

 _She let her back relax into Klaus' chest as Niklaus swung her legs over his shoulders, his mouth drawing so close she could feel his warm breaths against her absolutely soaking womanhood._

 _Tenderly Klaus put a finger on her chin and turned her face to his, drawing her mouth closer before running his tongue over her lips. With a small gasp she opened her mouth for him, her arms drawing up over her head to anchor in Klaus' hair as Niklaus finally licked over her slit, her hips jerking._

 _Klaus' kiss was so amazingly passionate and slow that really she should've known he was up to something else._

 _As soon as Niklaus' tongue entered her they were both suddenly also palming one of her breasts._

 _"Oh my god," she moaned before Klaus pulled her back to his lips, intensifying the kiss with wild nips on her lips; sucking her tongue into his mouth._

 _She could barely deal with all the sensations as they squeezed at her breasts perfectly, tweaking or running calloused fingers down her pursed nipples even as Klaus kissed her in a way that would ordinarily drive her entirely insane – his stiff cock pressing into her back causing insane fantasies in her mind – and Niklaus lapped and sucked at her as if there was nothing on the planet he'd rather be doing._

 _It was when Klaus' free hand went lower to spread her open with two fingers, coating them in her wet heat before moving up to her clit, that she knew she couldn't take any more of it. She pulled away from the kiss as Klaus found her clit with a satisfied groan he didn't even try to hide, causing more and more wetness to pool between her legs._

 _These two (one?!) men were going to kill her._

 _That was her exact thought as Klaus' thumb encircled the tight bundle of powerfully throbbing nerves and bent his head to speak into her ear._

 _"Would you like to come now, Caroline?"_

 _He said it as easily as he'd asked her earlier whether she was enjoying her birthday. Her core throbbed._

 _"Y-yes," she blurted immediately, hoping she sounded at least an iota less desperate and pleading than she felt. "Yes yes, yes, yes yes."_

 _Without knowing it she'd begun speaking to the rhythm of them inside her, her hips gyrating as she desperately rode Niklaus' face and Klaus kept alternating between tugging and pressing on her clit._

 _"Open your eyes," he instructed._

 _She didn't know why this was necessary – and was pretty sure he had no idea how fucking difficult that would be for her right now with the mess of assaulting situations she was fielding – but she was pretty sure she'd walk to the moon and back in a thong if it meant finally getting to come. Specifically, in the way he'd described earlier._

 _She was a slave to the concept of orgasming so hard that it felt like they were splitting her open – with nothing but their hands and tongues. God, she couldn't even imagine what their hard and to this point teasing cocks inside her would feel like._

 _So, with the incredible difficulty of focusing on the tiny task of turning her head and then prying her eyes apart as she received the most intense sexual pleasure she ever had, Caroline's eyes opened to look above her._

 _She had not been expecting what she saw._

 _What was a mirror doing there?!_

 _That thought quickly replaced by –_ Fuck.

 _She honestly didn't think she'd ever seen anything as insanely erotic as_ two Klauses _gripping her breasts, Niklaus' head buried deep between her thighs, one hand pressed to her hips as his long hair swung around his enthusiastically bobbing head._

 _And then Klaus' hand, spreading her wide open as he tugged and applied the perfect amount of pressure to the most sensitive spot in her body._

 _She was so so naked and there, behind her, Klaus. Not only cradling her body in the damnedest way but also staring straight into her eyes, the cool blue somehow managing to scorch through her own._

 _As he took her earlobe into his mouth, she felt it._

 _It crept first then hurtled, tore along; plunged through her, and stars dotted across her vision, more than ready for that splitting explosion._

Then her eyes opened.


	25. Chapter 25

Hey guys!

So I know quite a few of you were weirded out by the last chapter, lol, and I got some comments about whether it meant anything, if there was any symbolism etc. There absolutely was. The previous chapter was not gratuitous smut by any means. It contained as much psychoanalysis as I, a Film and English student, could possibly think to put into it (although it's surprising how much psychoanalysis I do actually know from those things, man. Basically half of all film theory is psychoanalysis. But I digress). The dream not only said a lot about Caroline, what she's feeling and thinking and expecting, but also serves to propel the story forward. You'll see that dream affect many chapters, beginning with this one. So yeah, everything I write serves a purpose and I tend to think about everything, right down to the connotations of every single word I put down.

Thank you thank you thank you for all the lovely comments, they truly caused me joy because (weirdly enough) this was the first smut I'd ever published so I was very nervous about it. You guys make me happy :)

* * *

Caroline pulled back the thick animal skin blanket.

Her thighs were dripping wet.

"Oh god," she breathed deeply, laying back and placing a calming palm over her forehead.

Her underwear was beside her, having fallen asleep with herself on her fingers and Klaus in her mind.

Quickly she pulled them on then got out of bed, locating the tin of water in the room.

Last night had definitely not been the first time she'd gotten herself off to the thought of Klaus but she never dreamt of him, and definitely not like that.

She splashed water on her face but quickly realised her entire body was shaking violently and she honestly wasn't sure if it was because of shock or sexual frustration. Probably a torturous mix of both.

"Breakfast!"

Immediately, on instinct, she replied: "I won't make it to breakfast, I'm not feeling well!"

The steps outside her room hesitated but eventually passed and she went to sit back on her bed, covering her lap with the blanket.

She needed to calm down.

She knew that was all she needed, to let go of the vivid memories and allow her body to fully return to this moment here. But the clenching in her belly was so difficult to ignore and her entire body felt like it had been affected by pinpricks.

Judging from the way she was still shivering and she could practically still feel both Klauses on her, she knew there was only one realistic way of calming herself down.

The problem was that, while she knew she should take care of it herself, her skin was aching to be touched.

"Caroline?"

It was Klaus, knocking lightly, and before she could think she'd called him in.

That was when they both realised she was in her underwear.

In a less physically aroused state she probably would've smiled at the difficulty he faced in keeping his gaze level with her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

She met his eyes then quickly ducked her head.

"Um, I'm just not feeling well."

"Sweetheart," he started, nearing. "I'm aware you're a vampire, remember? That excuse doesn't work with me."

Crap. She had forgotten.

Sheepishly, she laughed. "So cramps are out too, huh?"

Sitting, he smirked. "Most definitely."

"Damn, I really need new excuses."

She felt his fingers on her wrist before she saw it and immediately she jumped up like she'd been burned.

"Don't touch me!"

Her reaction had come protectively, on instinct – she wasn't sure that in this state she could control herself if he touched her. Still, she knew it was suspicious behaviour.

Klaus frowned deeply in response and she could see him become serious, genuinely worried.

"Caroline, what's wrong?" He stood and this time he met her eyes easily. "I thought perhaps you felt uncomfortable about last night and were avoiding me, but you're acting strangely and it's concerning me."

Last night?

Right, last night. They'd almost kissed.

"No – no, it's not that."

He stepped closer and her heart thudded as her core throbbed.

He was standing so close and she couldn't help thinking about how she was two tiny thin items away from being completely naked before him.

Everything in that dream had been so incredibly vivid and as they stood alone in this room together it may as well have been the bedroom in the jet, the silence marred by her breathily whimpering his name.

Barely touching her, he pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. She shivered.

"You're shaking," he pointed out. Worriedly he caressed her face. "Did something scare y– "

She pulled him to her and kissed him, hard.

He stumbled into her, but she liked it, liked the way their bodies collided. The hard leather pressed up against her soft and wanting skin.

He pulled away. "Caroline – "

"God, I like the way you say my name," she admitted breathily, before pulling his lower lip between her teeth.

He moaned, his hands going to her bare back, and she very nearly keeled at the skin on skin contact. Her body bucked into his and he roughly pulled her in closer. Wantonly she rubbed her hard nipples up against his chest.

Their kiss was scalding as she took control again, stumbling backward towards the bed.

He tried to catch her when she fell but she pulled him along with her instead, sucking his tongue into her mouth. He was moaning uncontrollably and her appreciation was just as verbal as his hands wildly roamed her body, squeezing and exploring.

He pulled away from the kiss and looked down at her, utter surprise written all over his face.

Then he frowned, a realisation coming to him.

"The room smells like…"

He didn't finish the sentence, his eyes lowering on her body of their own accord, and she heard his breath hitch.

"I need you," she finished, breathless.

Quickly she pulled him to her, kissing him roughly as she moaned out his name around his tongue, her nails scratching across his scalp.

She pulled away. "Touch me."

He hesitated, clearly still in shock, and she squirmed, rubbing herself against him.

"Please touch me," she pleaded, her voice more desperate than she'd ever heard it.

He swore beneath his breath as his hand moved down her hip, and it turned her on even more.

His hand was between her thighs quickly and within a second his fingers were slipping past the flimsy piece of fabric, outlining her slit as her back arched with insane relief.

She couldn't even count all the times she'd imagined this, not to mention the dream she'd just had. To actually feel it was like a syrupy spice mix of heaven and hell, overwhelming all her senses.

"Fuck, you're so wet," he moaned against her jaw.

A hand went down to his as he pushed a finger deep into her, and she applied pressure so that he was rubbing her with her palm as he pumped into her, her walls already beginning to clench.

"Kiss me till I'm coming," she ordered, before taking his lips with hers.

He added another finger and she whined into his mouth but he didn't stop kissing her, not even when he snuck his thumb onto her clit and she whimpered recklessly.

The stars were beginning to cloud in on her vision, her body tensing, when all of a sudden he hesitated – then pulled his hand out and away from her, ending the kiss.

Immediately her impending release vapourised; she felt empty.

"Oh my god," she nearly burst into tears.

Not again.

"Why now?" Klaus asked, his jaw beginning to set; eyes dark and scary.

She shook her head, still trying to regain sanity when he clearly already had.

"What?"

"Why now, Caroline?"

"I don't – "

"– is it him? It's him, isn't it?"

Her eyes widened as she watched him stare down at her, his eyes riddled with what, this time, it was impossible to convince herself into thinking wasn't betrayal.

All she could think of was how to make him stay.

"God, Klaus, you're the same freaking person!"

It was the worst thing she could've said.

His eyes turned fiery; empty, his mouth twisting.

"NO WE'RE NOT!"

It was like ten ice cold buckets of water had been dumped over her head.

She wanted to take it all back, but with the way he was looking at her, she knew it was too late.

There came a sharp rap on the door.

"William?" It was Rebekah.

"Yes?" he barked.

"The men are going out hunting. My brothers wondered if you would like to join."

He sat back on his haunches so they weren't touching at all anymore, drawing a breath for calm. A first, then a second.

"Yes."

"They shall meet you outside," she said, before her footsteps left.

Caroline drew a breath. "Klaus, I'm – "

"I'll bring you back blood," he said without looking at her as he got to his feet.

"Ok," she muttered, at a loss for anything else.

Without even a single glance he was gone.

Caroline thought of the first time she'd cooked an egg after turning into a vampire.

The egg shell had broken in her one hand after the lightest of touches.

She'd been so utterly shocked at first, watching the yolk drip down her fingers – she'd been caught completely unaware by her own strength.

Wryly she'd smiled, thinking Humpty Dumpty finally made sense to her.

All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again.

She'd wanted something, now, and she'd had the power to take it. But instead all she'd managed to do was crush it.

Only now it was tears she was watching drip down her fingers.

They'd been so fragile and she'd broken them.

And somehow she didn't feel the king's horses and men would have much luck here either.


	26. Chapter 26

Hi guys! I'm so sorry, I know it's been a long while. College. Don't do it (I kid - just maybe don't triple major). Thank you to the Anon who came into my Tumblr Ask box and gave me a bit of a kick in the butt - definitely inspired me to finish off that pesky third chapter - as well as to all you lovely reviewers.

As I have a test tomorrow, I really should be studying. But I really wanted to get this out to you guys before a new hectic week got started. Thus this chapter got the most shallow of edits so please do forgive any outstanding errors.

Lastly, enjoy, and let me know what you think :)

* * *

She sat on the bed, cleaned up and dressed.

And crying.

She hadn't been able to stop since Klaus had left the room.

Each time she thought she was done, another emotion would rush intently to the surface – guilt, emptiness, despair, regret.

Her mind had finally cleared of the dream enough so that she felt deeply ashamed of so many things. The dream itself, yes, but moreover the way she'd acted after it.

There really wasn't any way she could've prevented the dream, and maybe she couldn't have prevented herself from kissing him, not when he'd touched her while she'd been so hyper-sensitive.

But telling him that him and Niklaus were the same person hadn't been right – definitely not after he'd confessed his fear to her last night that she was beginning to see them as the same person.

She kept trying to plan a way to explain herself to him but couldn't.

No excuse seemed to work and somehow she couldn't imagine "I had a sex dream about two yous" going down well either.

There was a light tap on the bedroom door along with a female's accented voice.

"May I come in?"

She wiped her tears away before calling back.

"Sure, Rebekah."

She'd never had much talent at reading the Original sister so she didn't know how to interpret Rebekah's expression and body language as she entered the room.

If she had to guess, though, she'd go with uncomfortable.

"Good morning," she greeted good-naturedly.

"Good morning," Caroline forced a little smile.

"Are you feeling well?"

Caroline was confused at first then realised that she'd cited not feeling well to get out of breakfast earlier.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks."

"Wonderful," Rebekah smiled, a little hesitantly, as she came further into the room. "With all the men gone I wondered if you would perhaps accompany me to the well?"

Surprised, Caroline frowned.

She wasn't sure she wanted to spend more time with Rebekah than was absolutely necessary – but she found herself agreeing anyway. It wasn't like she could just sit here and stew in her shame all day.

"Um, yeah, sure."

Rebekah's smile widened but she still didn't look particularly comfortable.

After a moment of hesitation she sat down beside Caroline.

It took another moment for the source of her unrest to be revealed.

"I overheard your quarrel with William this morning."

Crap.

Klaus had shouted really loudly but she hadn't actually considered that anyone else might have heard. She hoped Rebekah had been the only one to, simply because she'd already been on her way to Caroline's room to deliver her message.

"Oh, um, yeah," she said, at a loss for anything else.

Rebekah glanced at her from the corner of her eye.

"Are you alright?"

With her uncomfortable stature and stilted questions Caroline got the idea that Rebekah was here more for someone else than herself.

For her own sanity, though, she deliberately kept her thoughts from Past Klaus.

"William sounded furious."

Still having no way to explain anything, Caroline continued to stay silent.

Eventually Rebekah spoke again.

"My interactions with him have been limited; however, my impression of William is that he is rather… troubled."

Caroline sighed. "I guess he is."

"I suppose I am wondering why it is you stay with him when he speaks to you the way he did this morning."

At this Rebekah finally angled her body toward Caroline, pointedly waiting for an answer.

Caroline had never been more speechless.

How could she possibly explain her and Klaus, even without the added restriction of being unable to admit that they _weren't_ actually even together?

After a second she found the only thing she could think to say.

"Are you asking this because of Niklaus?"

Rebekah looked impressed by Caroline having sussed this out, but pursed her lips.

"I would be, if he knew." She watched Caroline for a few seconds before continuing: "My brother cares deeply for you."

" _William_ is your brother," Caroline pointed out.

Rebekah hummed noncommittally.

"William unsettles me."

Caroline frowned questioningly and Rebekah explained.

"He looks so much like Niklaus and yet he is so different. There is something so guarded behind his eyes."

"Maybe you're just used to Niklaus opening up to you."

"Indeed. Nevertheless, there is something disconcerting about the way William speaks and smiles; the way he seems incapable of providing a true answer, as if always hiding something." She thought for a moment. "It is eerie: he looks at me as if he considers me trustworthy and yet provides nothing to support that theory. The fury he is capable of expressing at a moment's notice from perceived calm is frankly terrifying."

For the first time it occurred to Caroline that, in this situation, her and Rebekah had precisely opposing views.

Coming here she'd known her Klaus, and it had taken her a while to adjust to the weirdness of Past Klaus; the strange differences in attitude and behaviour; aura.

Rebekah was having the exact same experience, only in reverse.

"Well, _he's_ the man I've chosen to marry."

She didn't know where the words and defensive tone had come from, but it had escaped her lips so fast that she hadn't even been able to convert it into in period-appropriate English.

Rebekah stared back at her for a long while before smiling a smile that reminded Caroline of Mikael.

"Yes, which brings us back to my confusion."

Caroline, for the umpteenth time in this conversation, had no idea what to say.

She wasn't used to discussing her relationship with or her feelings for Klaus with anyone.

Drawing a breath, she decided to say just that _._

"I'm sorry, I am not in the habit of discussing him with anyone."

"Your family does not approve?"

Caroline pulled a face.

 _Understatement of the year._

"Not really, no."

There was a tiny deceptively innocent smile on Rebekah's face as she looked away.

"Perhaps they would take to Niklaus more easily."

Caroline had to stop herself from laughing at the Original's implications.

She was clearly trying to sell her brother as a viable option here and Caroline couldn't help finding the whole thing hilarious considering the Rebekah she knew in her present hated her and would likely set Caroline up with a trash can before recommending Klaus to her.

"What about you?" the younger blonde asked, to change the subject.

Rebekah turned back to her with a raised brow. "What _about_ me?"

"Is there not anyone special in your life?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes.

"If only. Unfortunately, the men in the village have begun treating me as if I were the plague."

Caroline frowned. "Overprotective brothers?"

"No. Oppressive father."

"I don't understand."

Rebekah heaved a sigh. "I am what is known as a tease." She paused for a second then continued. "I assume on your tour my brother told you of the wolf-men?"

He hadn't, but considering Caroline already knew about the werewolves, she nodded.

"Well, my father considers their blood to be sullied. He does not trust even the humans – he believes they may have some dormant wolf blood in them, passed through their ancestors. And so he refuses for us to be betrothed to any of the men here."

"So you will never get married?"

"He expects followers from the Old World – where my parents originally came from. Once they arrive I will be allowed to choose a suitor, I believe."

"You have never been engaged?"

"A few times, secretly. Hence the title of being a tease." She sighed again. "The less you try to please my father, the more times you have been engaged. Naturally Kol has been engaged eight times."

"But never married?"

"No, my father always discovers and puts a prompt stop to it."

"That's awful," Caroline breathed.

Not for the first time since they'd been here, she found herself really missing her own dad.

"Yes, well," Rebekah seemed to escape reverie, standing. "We should be off."

Caroline nodded and stood too, looking around the room to avoid meeting Rebekah's eyes, scared she would see the thoughts behind them.

That, according to her, Niklaus really liked Caroline.

And Caroline had no sullying werewolf in her blood.


	27. Chapter 27

Caroline bent, about to pick up the last bucket they had to fill.

"I have seen someone with whom I wish to speak. Can you handle that?" Rebekah asked, already four steps away.

Caroline nodded even as she frowned at Rebekah's sudden strange behaviour.

"Fantastic. I shall return shortly."

Caroline was still frowning as the blonde walked away but, seeing that she had indeed gone off to talk to someone, Caroline shrugged then turned back to the well.

She was about to bend back down when she noticed some scuffle surrounding the approach of a woman donning a dark green cloak. Her hood was pulled over her head and everyone seemed to have some reaction to her – whispering, staring, or nervously hesitating to step closer.

The woman neared and Caroline froze when she realised she had about fifty eyes on her as the woman stopped opposite her at the well.

The woman reached up to drop her hood.

Caroline gasped. "Elena."

The woman – who was _not_ Elena – frowned a little, tiny lines forming on her otherwise flawless face.

"Pardon?"

Caroline flushed, embarrassed to have been caught so off guard.

"Um, that means hello in my village," she quickly improvised.

Tatia smiled but something was missing from the action – warmth, Caroline felt.

"Hello."

For a long moment Caroline felt acutely uncomfortable as the first doppelganger visibly sized her up, running her gaze up and down the blonde's form.

"Caroline, I assume?"

Caroline felt strange.

It wasn't merely the doppelganger thing – she was about as used to that as one could be.

This was a whole different sort of strange, brought on mainly by the woman's attitude toward her.

Elena had been her best friend for as long as she could remember and Katherine had been an antagonistic feature in her life. But, despite having felt less than rosy at times in both those women's presence, Caroline had never before felt from a woman who looked like this what she did now.

Which was being entirely hated. Not passionately or teasingly – as with Katherine – but coldly; with clinical precision.

Tatia's gaze felt like all the hate of the world being laser projected onto her.

Only it was as if there were a disconnect between her eyes and mouth because for the moment her tone was friendly; positively jovial.

"Um… yeah."

"I am Tatia."

Hesitantly Caroline nodded. "I've heard of you."

She seemed to bristle a little. "What have you heard?"

All of a sudden Caroline couldn't seem to remember a single thing she'd known about this woman. Every preconceived notion and expectation had gone out the window the second she met the real thing.

It abruptly occurred to her that both Klaus and Elijah had both fallen for this person – and suddenly she realised she did actually have some semblance of a reply to offer.

"Elijah thinks very highly of you."

Tatia smiled and it was unguarded, almost shy.

Caroline was beginning to think this doppelganger was a funhouse mirror mix of Katherine, Elena and Rebekah.

An impression that wasn't helped when Tatia's face suddenly smoothed out just as quickly.

"And what of Niklaus? Have you found him to think highly of me too?"

Having a feeling Tatia was going somewhere specific with this, Caroline opted for the safe answer.

"I do not know."

Sure enough, a brow arched. "I confess I am surprised. I am told you spend a lot of time with him."

The obvious jealous tone in her voice made Caroline wonder if Past Klaus had entirely ceased seeing Tatia since Caroline had arrived here. She thought of Elijah staring at her and Klaus that day and then the lecture he'd given her later.

"We have not spoken of you very much. Niklaus just said that Elijah cares for you a lot."

This seemed to rile up the doppelganger more than anything else Caroline had said.

"And what of _him_?"

"Like I said, we did not talk about you much."

Tatia let out a sharp breath, her back straightening.

"Precisely how long is it you intend on staying, Caroline?"

"As long as the Mikaelsons will have me," Caroline lied loftily, beginning to take actual enjoyment from this encounter and Tatia's obvious insecurity.

What could she say, it appealed to the bitchy head cheerleader inside.

The brunette seemed to struggle with herself for a long moment before speaking.

"And I suppose you intend on monopolising Niklaus' attention for the duration of your stay?"

Tossing her hair, Caroline scoffed. "I'm not monopolising anything. I do not control Niklaus or what he does."

"I find that difficult to believe."

"Only because you don't want to believe that for the time being you're going to have to settle for only _one_ brother falling over himself for you," she shot.

By this time all of Tatia's stunning features were marred with pure loathing.

"Then you admit to luring him away?"

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Maybe you should stop blaming _me_ for him moving on."

Tatia seemed about to reply when suddenly Rebekah stepped up beside Caroline again.

The two women shared a long gaze Caroline couldn't decipher.

Then Tatia witheringly looked back at her. "It was enlightening to have met you, Caroline."

With one last glance at them she turned and left.


	28. Chapter 28

Hey everyone! I'm so glad you guys enjoyed my portrayal of Tatia. I both interpreted what I saw of her on TO and simultaneously turned it upside down. I'm sorry for the filler-ish chapters recently, there's just a lot of stuff that has to happen in between Klaroline scenes and also I do believe y'all asked for a lot of interactions between the present and past characters ;) Thank you so so much for the reviews, as always they keep me motivated and also really inform on how to shape the next chapter and even the ones I haven't written yet. Often, if possible, I even add stuff or chapters I hadn't planned on because you guys have asked for it.

Ok, that's it from me, hope you enjoy :)

xx

* * *

"Why did you do that?"

It had been a few minutes, long enough for Caroline to have stewed in the interaction that had just passed, along with Rebekah's contributions to it.

The Original turned to her as they walked, heading back toward the Mikaelson house.

"What do you mean?"

She'd come to the only conclusion that made sense to her – that Rebekah had deliberately left her with Tatia in order to remind her that Niklaus was taken.

It confused her, considering Rebekah had seemed so in favour of her and Niklaus earlier this morning, but she couldn't think of any other logical explanation.

And it was surprising to her how much Rebekah's small betrayal stung. Not only because of the way they'd semi-bonded that morning, but also because she had the strangest and perhaps juvenile instinct that Rebekah should be on her side just because, at least in Caroline's mind, she'd known the blonde longer.

"I mean you leaving me alone with Tatia."

The Original sister was silent for a while then she smiled a little.

"You are smart."

"Look, whatever. I don't need your condescending compliments. Just stop trying to play with me like I'm some kind of doll. I'm not going to get jealous of Tatia. In case you've forgotten, I'm engaged to _William_."

They were halfway home but Rebekah stopped abruptly, setting down her buckets of water.

"That is what you assume my intention to have been?"

"Was it not?"

"No," Rebekah said with a laugh.

"Oh," Caroline said, sheepishly. "Uh, then what was it?"

Rebekah looked a pleasant combination of amused and happy, something Caroline didn't think she'd ever seen on the Original's face before.

"I was attempting to make _her_ jealous," Rebekah grinned. "I despise that Tatia wench and her hold on my brothers and she knows it – which is why she promptly scampered off when I arrived."

They stared at each other for a good long while before both breaking out into loud spontaneous laughter.

"Oh my god, I can't believe you did that!"

"Well it worked splendidly!" Rebekah giggled. "Did you see the look on her face?"

They were still laughing as they picked up their buckets and made their way back home, Rebekah forcing the other blonde to recount the entire interaction for her.

* * *

The men were back.

Caroline knew this when she entered her room and saw a steel jar sitting on a small table near her bed.

She stilled, knowing immediately what it was and what it meant.

The latter having many answers, of course. Primarily that the men were back.

That Klaus had thought of her and kept to his promise.

But, moreover and more disturbingly, that he'd chosen not to give it to her himself but rather leave it here for her to find.

With a heavy sigh Caroline picked up the makeshift jar, removed its serrated lid then took a sniff at the distasteful blood inside.

Even with her hunger peaked, the thought of animal blood wasn't satisfying.

Going out into town with Rebekah today had proved to be a real feat, with all the throbbing pulses on revealed necks she had to pretend not to see, plus having the new and incredibly weird experience of having to resist Rebekah's blood.

She thought of Klaus' comment last night and his offer that she drink his blood. The idea seemed even more appealing right now, which was saying something.

Caroline tried to drag her thoughts from his appetising blood as she swallowed the gross animal substitute, focusing instead on the need this would fill and how unlikely getting anything from Klaus would be.

The problem was… she was sick of being ashamed.

Something about spending time with Rebekah, laughing, and standing up for herself with Tatia, had put her in a mood ready to face the world again. Or, more accurately, ready to face Klaus.

She wanted to find him and talk to him.

She still had _no idea_ how to explain or excuse her behaviour that morning, but she knew she just needed to _talk_ to him. Whatever spilled out after her apology would just have to be fine as long as she could be in his presence again; have him look at her with something other than disgust.

Because, yes, she felt something that scared her. A lot.

Deep inside there was an ice cold patch of what she could only describe as… intense absence.

She _missed_ him.

So much it hurt.

It had come to the point where she didn't care what happened when they saw each other again, how either of them would react, as long as they _did_ actually see each other again.

Not knowing where he was or what he was thinking unsettled her in the strangest way. And the thought of him being mad, disappointed or disgusted with her – or, likely, all of the above – made her want to take action.

With a jolt she realised, as she finished the last drop of blood, that her feelings for him had – worryingly – escalated to the point where it was actually distressing to imagine him no longer feeling the same way about her.

Burying first that thought then the jar beneath her bed, she strode out of the room, determined to find her Klaus.


	29. Chapter 29

Tentatively Caroline pushed the door open.

"Esther?"

A sigh.

"Come in."

Gingerly the blonde stepped inside then approached the witch where she was hunched over a desk full of ingredients for what seemed like a spell.

"What is it?"

"I'm looking for K-William – uh – Klaus."

Esther blinked back at Caroline like she thought her to be a complete idiot, before shaking her head.

"He went off with Henrik after the men returned."

Damn. That didn't help. She'd already checked Henrik's playroom and they hadn't been there.

In fact she'd already looked everywhere else.

She wouldn't be here – anywhere with Esther voluntarily – unless it was her last resort short of going door to door in the village. Which she hadn't entirely crossed off her list of options just yet.

Caroline sighed.

"Ok. Thanks, I guess."

She'd turned on her heel, ready to leave, when Esther spoke.

"You care for him."

She stopped dead, debating whether to turn back or not.

"But you are not truly engaged."

At that she did spin around.

"How do you know?"

Esther shrugged. "I am very skilled at reading people. And I know my son." She paused. "He cares very deeply for you too."

Feeling her cheeks pink a little, Caroline mentally cursed. She didn't want to give this woman even a hint of anything that was going on.

"What do you care about any of it?"

Esther stood, her back straight.

"I care because the man you call Klaus is still my son. And contrary to what you clearly believe – I do love my children."

Rocking back on her heels, Caroline scoffed.

"Well you have a funny way of showing it, lady."

One of the Original Witch's brows arched and she took a few steps closer to Caroline.

"There is a story behind every story, Caroline, you should always keep that in mind." She cast her eyes toward the desk, inviting Caroline to do the same. "Lives are like spells. All of the ingredients must fit together perfectly, which takes an incredibly long time, if at all, to perfect." She sighed. "Frequently it blows up in your face and you have to live with those consequences; switch out some ingredients for others and can only hope it will work the next time."

Caroline blinked.

She understood the analogy but didn't really get what it had to do with anything they were discussing.

Esther sighed again and turned around a little. Caroline frowned at the woman's back.

"Niklaus' father, he was…"

Since Caroline had met her, she hadn't seen a single real emotion pass the woman's face. With the length of the pause, Caroline wondered if that's why she'd turned her back.

There was an audible swallow.

"Well, you would know." A pause. "He was just like Niklaus."

Caroline frowned. If she liked Klaus' dad so much and they were so similar, why she did she treat Klaus so awfully?

"Interesting… What did you say his name was?"

Esther shot her a grin over her shoulder.

"Very smart. But I am well aware that I did not mention his name."

Caroline grinned back.

She'd tried.

She was beginning to realise, though, that Esther was too smart to be fooled and definitely not by a trick like that.

"How was he like Klaus?" she asked instead, genuinely curious.

Esther hesitated for a second before turning to Caroline again.

A ghost of a smile crossed her face. "He was confident, to a fault. When he wanted something he pursued it without reservation." She seemed lost in memory for a second: "That smile… you know the one."

She did.

And she was no stranger to being lost in it.

Esther continued: "Conversely, these were all things Mikael loathed about him. And, I confess, my husband's hatred only served to further fuel my interest. Not to mention the stark contrasts I began to notice: Mikael, brash and controlling – him, fun-seeking and reckless; almost entirely unbothered by the world around him."

"So you cheated."

"If you mean was I unfaithful – yes, I was. Although truthfully sometimes, depending on my mood, when I think back I often do not know if it was a choice on my part or simply inevitable. My husband, after all, so cautious and tyrannous in this new and still-strange land, and Niklaus' father all confidence as he snuck me out; gave me personal tours, lavished me with attention."

Caroline felt herself take a step back, as if her body felt compelled to withdraw from this woman she was realising she had an uncomfortable amount in common with.

"I was in love," she said simply, a dopey smile adorning her lips.

Please skip the sex, please skip the sex, please skip the sex, Caroline begged mentally.

"And then I found out I was with child," she said after a moment, to which Caroline let out a breath of relief. "I had already been slowly planning on running away with him, which he was euphoric about, however, the baby – Niklaus – forced me to finally take action."

Esther's eyes lowered and Caroline felt a strangely ominous lump form in her throat.

"Ayana knew of everything and she warned me that I was a witch; nature's servant. And she was right, of course. I rushed to his house, tripping over myself in jubilation, so eager to tell him the news; to tell him that I was to bear him a child – he absolutely adored children, you see – and that I had devised a plan for our escape, only to arrive at a household in mourning."

Caroline's stomach dropped, her throat dry. "Mourning? Why?"

Hesitantly Esther's eyes rose to meet Caroline's again.

"He had gone out hunting that morning and been mauled by a bear."

A small cry escaped the vampire's lips and she didn't know if it was for Klaus or because she'd been so invested in the love story, more invested than she'd be willing to admit.

"I was distraught of course. However, bears are incredibly rare here and I accepted it as the message I realised nature was intending to send me – I had a husband and I was to be with him; make him happy. Duly I returned home and informed Mikael I was to bear him another child. To avert any suspicion I made lavish promises about how he would be his strongest, bravest and most loyal son yet." She smiled, and it was laced with bitter sadness. "Of course, Niklaus was none of those things, at least not in Mikael's eyes."

Caroline gasped in realisation.

"That's why he hates him so much? Because your promises fell flat?" she asked in disbelief.

"Perhaps. Though likely it is mainly Niklaus' natural disposition. As I mentioned, he is just like his father – whom Mikael hated almost as much as I'd loved him. So, I suppose, one could say I loved my little Nik more than any of the rest, really." She seemed dejected. "He was so much like his father, it was impossible not to. But to the extent I loved him I was also forced to hide it."

"Or Mikael may suspect something," Caroline guessed with a long breath.

"Precisely."

There was silence for a long moment before Esther sighed.

"Now you know the story behind my story."

Reminded to put back up her defences, Caroline crossed her arms.

"I still don't get something though – if Klaus' dad is dead, why didn't you just tell him?"

"Would he have believed me?" Esther shot back.

Bristling, Caroline scoffed. "Well why do you think I believe you?"

She shrugged. "What reason do I have to lie to you? What reason do I have to tell you at all? Besides," she sniffed morosely, "that I had to tell someone."

Their eyes met and Caroline drew a sharp breath.

For once she saw no manipulation there, no frost.

For once she saw humanity. She saw… Klaus.

So she believed her.

"I'm sorry, about all that. It sounds really terrible," she attempted.

Mostly she felt terrible for Klaus – what had happened to Esther was in the past, but Klaus had still recently been holding on to the idea of meeting his father, and now she would have to tell him that that was impossible.

Of course, that would require actually finding him first.

Esther didn't acknowledge the vampire's words in any apparent way. Instead, she said something entirely different.

"I have discussed the case with Ayana and she agrees with me: your witch friend will be fine. She will be able to return to her own time by herself. Ayana and I have determined that she and the medallion shared an interesting exchange when she activated it: it took her power and she took its ability," she explained. "There is no need for concern."

"Oh," Caroline said, letting a whoosh of air escape as a weight lifted off her chest.

There was no solid reason to trust anything Esther said. But the random way she'd announced it had felt as if, in her own strange way – not unlike the way she mothered – her reassurance had been meant as a reward for Caroline listening to her story.

"And, as planned, we shall depart tomorrow evening."

"Ok," Caroline swallowed, feeling awkward.

She still didn't really like the woman and Esther had clearly long ago lost her ability to properly express affection so, despite what had just been shared, it left them in a very strange situation with a weird atmosphere in the air.

"Um," she said after a solid minute of silence, "I should continue looking for Klaus."

Suddenly something occurred to her.

"You know, tomorrow when you perform the spell and we leave, Mikael will not be there…"

"And?" Esther asked sharply.

"And I just think it would do a lot of good and no harm if you could, in some way, let Klaus know that you don't actually hate him."

Esther looked conflicted between confusion and actual realisation at the truth value of Caroline's statement.

"Maybe as, like, a favour to me," Caroline finished, knowing that wouldn't go down well but attempting anyway.

His whole life he'd been mistreated by both his parents – Klaus deserved to know that he was far from being unloved.

She was going to do whatever she could to make that happen, even if that meant getting scoffed at.

But, to her surprise, Esther only nodded curtly.

Caroline stood frozen, unprepared for a positive reaction. After a second she awkwardly uttered an 'Ok' before finally heading for the door.

As she opened it she heard Esther speak.

"Do not make my mistakes, Caroline."

She was about to turn for an explanation – which mistakes? – when she caught a glimpse of Klaus outside, heading towards her.

Not her Klaus – Past Klaus.

Again he was staring at her with that unburdened smile, entirely enveloping her in the sensation of simply being looked at.

That smile… you know the one.

She had stepped outside before she fully knew it and he approached her quickly, immediately taking one of her hands into his.

"I have been looking for you."

"Oh, really?" she asked, feeling a bit awkward.

It suddenly occurred to her that he'd gone out hunting with Klaus – maybe he had some idea of where he was.

He smiled lopsidedly. "I feel I am always looking for you."

Just wait till you start stalking me in the future, she thought wryly.

"Um, how was hunting?" she attempted steering the conversation, hoping to subtly bring up Klaus and his possible location.

"Protracted. Particularly since I could not stop thinking about something."

"Oh, really?" she frowned. "What?"

His eyes gleamed as he took a step closer.

"That there is something I would very much like to show you."

And, maybe it was his proximity, but she entirely forgot about what it was that she was supposed to be keeping this conversation about.

"W-what is it?"

She watched the corners of his amazing lips turn up into a sly little smirk.

It seems the lady has remembered that it is her birthday.

Her pule beginning to race, Caroline swallowed heavily.

"A surprise," he smiled. "I do think you will like it."

"U-um," she stuttered, her breaths scattered as she desperately tried to think of a way to say no.

With no inhibitions – confident to a fault – he pulled her hand up and held it to his lips, almost making her keel at the contact.

Instantly the sensation of having been left wanting this morning rushed back to her.

"Yeah, ok," she nodded. "Yes."

Somewhere in the back of her mind she rationalised that she had no idea where Klaus was anyway, and that she needed time to prepare herself to tell him about his father.

The last thing she thought of, just before he placed a hand on her lower back, surrounding her in his Klaus-ness, was Esther's warning.

Then – just like that, it was gone, and they were off.


	30. Chapter 30

Sometimes the best thing you can do for a story is take a break from it.

I know that sucks for you guys but when fanfiction begins to feel like a discouraging job, that's when the quality of the writing begins to suffer.

For the past two weeks I've had a chapter (not this one) half-finished. I'd stopped in the middle of a sentence and simply been unable to finish that sentence. For two weeks. I would open the document, do edits to other chapters, blah procrastinate blah and then eventually close the document without finishing the sentence. This weekend, after not opening the story for a week, I opened it and wrote two chapters; over a thousand words.

This is my long-winded way of apologising for being away but also encouraging other writers to sometimes take some time off. In addition to finishing up that chapter I also ended up adding and changing so much to all the chapters I'm working on because of the mental space I allowed myself from the story, and I think the story is gonna benefit tremendously from that. So yeah. When in doubt take a week off - and then spend a paragraph boring your readers with why you needed to do so. Heh.

P.S. I've started watching Outlander and apart from just simply loving it, it's also really made me think of this story (Just me?). Woman sent into the past, having to lie about herself and adjust to an earlier period and men being weird assholes. And of course the awkward Present VS Past love triangle. In fact, thinking about it, this chapter being publishable right now may be as a direct result of Outlander inspiration, lol.

* * *

"I want to know more about you."

Caroline swallowed heavily, strange acrobatics in her stomach. Those words were way too familiar.

"Um," she laughed nervously, "you first."

Pausing, he turned to her with a cocked brow. "Forgive me, but I feel rather certain that by now your knowledge of me must far exceed mine of you. You have seen my village, after all, stayed with my family, know of Tatia…"

"Right," she smiled shyly, having forgotten in her flustered distress. "Ok – how about quid pro quo?"

"Excuse me?" he frowned.

"I ask you a question, you answer, then you ask me one and I'll answer."

"Alright," he smiled. "Sounds fair. Me first."

"Seems a little less fair, now," she joked.

He grinned and seemed about to speak when she held up a finger.

"One thing before we start, so I don't have to use up one of my questions for it – are we almost there?"

He was staring at her affectionately, still smiling.

"Very nearly."

"Ok." She drew a breath. "Go ahead."

"Hmmm… Alright, tell me, Caroline, do you have any siblings?"

"No," she answered easily. "My turn. What's the deal with Tatia – was it you or Elijah who liked her first?"

He laughed fully and she could tell it was because he'd realised just how much of a disadvantage she had him at – he was still working out the basics whereas, like he'd pointed out, she already knew a lot about him and could immediately start with the harder-to-answer stuff.

"I do not think that is a question that can be answered," he eventually admitted. "I doubt either of us know, truthfully. Thus it comes down to the physicality, which only makes thing more difficult. Who must step down, the one who was first to hold her hand or he who first kissed her?"

Caroline held back a smirk, thinking she knew exactly which of them had done what in those scenarios.

She couldn't fault his logic either – in the end the best way to settle the question of who was to step down was for one of the brothers to be chosen by the woman in question. The problem being, as it had seemed to Caroline from her interaction with Tatia that morning, that the doppelganger seemed to like having them _both_ as options.

"I met her this morning, you know."

"Really?" He seemed surprised. "What was your impression?"

"Is that your question?" she asked craftily.

He laughed. Then, after seeming to put some real thought into it: "…Yes."

She sighed as they walked on, then decided to be honest.

"I really did not care for her."

He burst into a fresh bout of laughter and she watched incredulously.

Caroline didn't think she'd ever stop thinking his easy smile was amazing; stop admiring the genuine light-hearted mirth in his eyes.

Quickly she forced herself to snap out of it, thinking up her next question.

She cleared her throat.

"If you were given the chance and the choice, would you rather show Mikael up the way William did or make him proud?"

Abruptly the smile wiped from his face and for a second she worried she'd overstepped.

It was just something she'd been really curious about. She knew the last thing her Klaus cared about was obtaining Mikael's approval – not anymore – but she was very curious about Past Klaus' view on it.

He ducked his head but she still managed to catch the expression on his face; the utter uncertainty there.

"Another question I cannot answer."

Trying to lighten the moment, she laughed a little.

"You are really bad at this."

Meeting her eyes again, he laughed too. "I am, it seems."

"Ok, your question."

She was thinking about how strangely familiar their surroundings had gotten, and was trying to place them, when he spoke.

"Do you love William?"

They stopped again.

Rapidly she blinked, her heart pounding in her chest as she unwittingly met Klaus' eyes.

He looked so sincere, so filled with apprehension that, though she knew she should say yes, she couldn't bring herself to lie; to protect the cover when they were supposed to be learning the truth about one another.

"I-I don't know."

He stared at her for a long moment before smirking.

"You are becoming bad at this too."

She drew a breath of relief before elbowing him playfully as they started walking again.

"Clearly your influence, then."

He laughed. "Your question."

"Hmmm, ok," she hummed, thinking about it. "Are you sleeping with Francella?"

He halted, looking taken aback, but it was too late, the words had made it out of her mouth.

Granted, not completely without forethought – she'd been wondering ever since that day of the tour and pastries – but she supposed she hadn't been expecting his reaction to be so violent.

"Why would you think that?"

"It's just… you seemed really… close. And she seemed very eager to please you. And, I mean, she _is_ gorgeous."

"I see."

He was watching her closely. She shifted.

He stepped closer and Caroline sternly told her heart not to flutter.

"Are you jealous?"

"W-what? No. Why would I be jealous?"

He smiled, teasingly. "Precisely what I am wondering."

Goddamn. How did he manage to be such a giant flirt no matter what period he was in?!

"I am betrothed, Niklaus," she breathed.

"To a man you do not know if you love or not," he shot back.

Her cheeks burned. She'd given him that rope to hang her with.

Feeling queasy, she tried to sidestep him but he followed her movement easily, ending up even closer to her.

She met his eyes, flustered, and he smiled in a way that made him look far more like his future self.

"We are here."


	31. Chapter 31

(: I'm back. And - finally - a free woman.

Enjoy :)

* * *

Looking around, she realised that they were at some weird kind of entrance.

Then it dawned on her – the caves.

He stepped back, gesturing.

"After you."

Swallowing panic, she nodded then stepped inside, stooping a little.

It was dark but she'd been down here a few times before, which made her feel a little more confident traversing the damp black tunnels.

From behind her Klaus directed her and she followed his instructions.

There was silence for a while before he eventually cleared his throat.

"And to answer your question: no. I am not."

"Oh."

 _Don't sound so freaking relieved, you idiot!_

"Does that make you feel better?"

Suddenly she was glad for the damp darkness. It both hid and quickly quashed her burning cheeks.

"I told you it has nothing to do with me."

"I doubt that, considering you asked."

"I was curious," she rolled her eyes.

Finally, her annoyance with the usual version of this man was beginning to kick in. Three days – it was about damn time. That annoyance was her defence mechanism.

"People are usually curious for a reason," he pointed out.

Deciding not to say anything else, she took a breath of relief when she saw the clearing up ahead.

It was where Alaric had found all the Originals' names carved into the walls.

In a second Klaus had grabbed up her hand and was pulling her along, her vampire strength rendered moot by being taken by surprise.

In less than a minute they were before the huge wall and she gasped a little.

She could see why Klaus brought girls down here – there were white pinprick glitters in the black that, combined with the absolute silence, made the whole place seem a little magical.

Wondrously she stepped forward, looking around at the drawings then their names.

It felt surreal.

She was here in the very time when all these etchings had been created. Elena had looked at the pictures; touched one thousand year old marks. _She_ stood in front of fresh ones with the person who'd made them.

As if afresh, the fact that she was truly in the _freaking past_ right now washed over her.

"You were right," Caroline smiled broadly. "I like it."

He came up behind her, his hands warm where he placed them on her shoulders. She didn't shrink away.

"I am glad."

She tried to pick her favourite drawing, intent on asking him what it meant.

"My turn for a question," he interrupted her train of thought.

"Oh. Uh, ok."

"Do you enjoy spending time with me, Caroline?"

Beneath his hands she froze for a long moment before hesitantly turning to face him.

"You know I do," she admitted, her voice a whisper. "I wouldn't be here otherwise."

He smiled, attempting to hold her gaze, but she quickly looked away.

She gasped when his hand landed on her cheek, caressing it carefully before lightly tugging on her chin, bringing her eyes back to his.

The moment was long and intimate as her heart thumped inside her chest.

"Would you like to carve your name into the wall?"

Crap.

Aside from the fact that she had no idea how to spell like a freaking Viking, there was also the whole time travel thing that she didn't want to mess with any more than she absolutely had to.

Best – but incredibly freaky – case scenario, they got back home and her name was still there. Worst case scenario – it turned the entire universe inside out and her and Klaus got stuck in limbo for being idiots who messed with time.

Ok, maybe that last one was a bit of an exaggeration but, shoot her, she wasn't a physicist.

"Uh, no. No, thank you," she refused nervously.

She rounded him, mainly to gain proximity from the cave wall and then froze, something suddenly occurring to her.

"Would you promise me something?"

For a few short seconds there was surprised silence.

"Of course."

Slowly she turned, meeting his eyes steadily.

It was of utmost importance that he remembered this.

"Promise me."

He moved closer and she gasped shortly when he stepped right into her breathing space.

It was as close as her and the other Klaus had been last night when they'd been about to kiss.

"I promise you, Caroline," he said sincerely. "Whatever it is you want; anything you need from me is yours."

Her hand caught his and this time he was the one drawing a short breath as she splayed his fingers to reveal his palm.

Right now there was no touch too intimate, no action too extreme. There was nothing more important than this.

With her fingers she caressed his palm as he watched, spellbound. Then she curled her hand into a small fist and laid it in the middle of his.

"Promise me, right now, that _no matter what_ you will never ever take Henrik out to see the wolves change on a full moon."

The boy with the smiling eyes and his brilliant games – she couldn't let him die, no matter what it might mean for her and Klaus and the future.

Klaus opened his mouth but she spoke again, fierce.

" _Ever_. No matter how much he begs. You will remember this promise to me and you will keep it. Promise me."

Klaus' eyes were wide, likely bewildered by why in the hell she cared this much about Henrik going out to see the wolves.

But her eyes held his determinedly and eventually he swallowed, nodding slowly.

"I promise you." His hand closed around hers. "I promise, Caroline."

She let out a long breath, immediately breaking the moment, and her gaze quickly dropped to where they were touching.

Quickly she pulled her hand away then turned back around, her breathing unsteady.

Spotting a little alcove in the middle of the one of the walls, she crossed the cave to sit in it.

From it she watched Klaus watch her, his eyes curious.

"You are by far the most intriguing woman I have ever met."

"Really? Because Tatia seemed insane," she teased, trying to lighten the mood.

He smiled. "I said intriguing, not insane."

"Those two things are very often one and the same."

"Agreed," he nodded, still smiling. "But not this time."

Not knowing what to do with the way he was looking at her, she ducked her head.

When she looked back up she almost jolted in surprise to find him standing right in front of her.

All at once she became very aware that she'd decided to sit with her legs spread. Yes, her mother had taught how to sit like a good little lady while wearing a dress, but considering this one went down to her ankles, she really hadn't factored in modesty. What she _should've_ factored in, though, was giving Klaus literal space to move in on.

"Whose question is it?" he asked, holding her eyes.

"I… lost track," she admitted, her breaths still shallow.

"Very well. Then simply this: are you alright?"

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

He stepped closer and now he was right between her legs – and she really didn't hate it. In fact she had a hard time concentrating on anything but the warmth of his body so close to her own heat.

"Rebekah told me what happened this morning."

 _Crap._

"Of course she did," she laughed a little, forgetting she wasn't allowed to hate Rebekah here.

"She thought I should know," he began.

"There's no need to defend her – I guess I just forgot that it happened. And honestly, I wish everyone else would, too."

His eyes widened a little and she realised that had come out far more defensively than she'd meant for it to.

"Has he…" He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Has he ever been violent with you?"

Her gaze snapped up to meet his.

"No! God, no."

He seemed to study her for a moment before drawing a breath of relief.

"Regardless, you deserve much better, Caroline."

Feeling trapped – except this time physically, too – in the same conversation she'd been in with Rebekah that morning, she scoffed, going for her only line of defence.

"I don't get it – William is your brother. How can you do this? Was Elijah right, is this just the way you operate?"

His eyes narrowed a little as he considered her statement. He pushed some hair behind his ear.

"Tatia was a fluke; whereas you… you are magnificent," he explained.

Caroline's eyes darted to where he was holding a hand above her thigh and she swallowed hard.

"That doesn't change that I'm betrothed to your brother."

"Yes, well, my brother does not seem like he deserves or appreciates you."

"And you would?" she asked, frustrated; finally putting it out there.

"Yes," he nodded, solemnly. "I would."

Her breath caught and she had to work to remind herself to get her lungs working again.

His eyes were completely possessing her gaze, enrobing her in that same warm sense of being looked at.

 _Breathe, Caroline._

"I… thought you liked William."

"I do – I _did._ What I like most of all, however, is myself. And, more recently, you. And when I want something, Caroline, I go after it."

For a while she got completely caught up in it – his words being such a perfect echo of his mother's, her own overwhelming rush of arousal, and the perfection of his gaze.

Then she cleared her throat, shifting forward, and he immediately moved back and away, looking worried that he may have offended her.

He couldn't know that he had, in fact, done the opposite.

"I think we should go, it was already late when we got here," she said without looking at him.

She didn't want him to realise that, for the first time, she was actually considering staying.

Permanently.


	32. Chapter 32

Hi all!

Klamydia is poop.

Gosh I'm so glad I got that out the way, it was like the camel in the room.

Onward. This story is winding down for me! I have three more chapters left to write so I'm feeling a little sad about it all. You may not think so, but you're the lucky ones! On the bright side there is the sequel and on that note I hope everyone's watched The 100! This story does have a solid ending but some things also continue into the sequel and only get revealed then etc and also The 100 is the best show have I mentioned this.

Buuut enough of the admin. I'll just let you get to reading and hating me :P

* * *

The only sound between them was that of their boots crunching.

The sun had set over an hour ago so she stayed close to Niklaus as they entered the vilage, not yet having memorised the path to the Mikaelsons' house.

Neither of them were talking but she was reeling with the shouting going on inside her own mind.

Could she stay? Was it logically possible?

Was it _entirely insane_?

If there had been no time crunch she probably wouldn't even have been considering it, but knowing that she was either leaving or staying tomorrow had suddenly put her mind into overdrive.

Once she left she wouldn't ever be able to come back. She couldn't exactly ask Bonnie to subject herself to all that again and regardless, the past wasn't like some overseas country she could just keep visiting whenever she felt like it.

It was either go or stay – permanently.

The latter had never even crossed her mind before ten minutes ago. Likely because it was _crazy_ … right?

In theory she knew it was but every time she looked at Niklaus she found herself wondering if it really was all that implausible. And if she cared either way.

Then the rational part of her would remind her of her friends and family and the life she had in the present.

Hence all the screaming.

"Caroline, I apologise if – "

"That really isn't necessary," she shook her head vehemently. "You did not do anything wrong."

He snuck a glance at her.

"…You have been silent a long time."

"I know." She sighed. "I was just trying to figure out how to tell you something."

He stopped walking. "You sound concerned."

"I guess…" She sighed. "…I guess I am."

He caught her arm, supporting her lightly.

"What is wrong?"

"It's just… William and I are leaving tomorrow."

She remembered the last time she'd seen Klaus' face fall the way it did now – at the Grill when she'd confessed that she'd only been spending time with him in order to keep him busy and away from Elena. It was strange how it had only been a few days ago and yet it felt like years in the past.

"No," he shook his head.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, because she was.

"Caroline, you cannot."

"I have to go home."

"No, you do not. You can stay."

She shook her head. "I really can't. I'm so sorry."

He met her eyes.

"Not even for me?"

Her heart clenched. He _was_ the one reason she _wanted_ to stay.

After all, Present Klaus all but hated her now.

"I really do have to go," she asserted. "I have a good friend who is in trouble and I have to go back and help her."

Suddenly he stepped even closer, folding both her hands into his.

"Very well. Then return." He held her eyes solidly, reminding her of the way she'd made him promise. "Return to me."

Breathlessly she stuttered for an answer of some sort, battling against her own will that wanted to do just that.

"Niklaus, I am engaged to be married to William," she asserted, clearing her throat uncomfortably.

He stepped closer, their clasped hands the only thing between them.

She retreated, her back hitting a wall, and he only closed the distance again, holding her eyes.

"Please, call me Nik."

He brought one of her hands to his mouth and she watched as his pink lips glided over her pale knuckles.

His eyes closed for the second before the pair of blazing blues met hers once again.

"And marry _me_."

Her eyes widened.

"W-whaaat?"

"Marry me, not him. I will make you happier than he ever could, Caroline."

She had absolutely no idea what to say. She could barely think.

"I-I-I – "

"Promise me you will consider it?" he entreated, eyes wide and fervent.

"I – "

His lips were on hers, his tongue quickly further separating her already-parted lips.

Caroline blinked and then her eyes shut, her mouth engaging in the kiss of its own accord.

He crushed his body against hers and automatically she moaned softly. It felt amazing, it did.

She parted her legs a little to get him closer, wrapping her arms around him, and he moaned into her mouth as he hitched her leg over his hip.

The adjusted angle of his body as he ground against her let her feel his hardening erection and Caroline whimpered, nipping on his lip a little.

He pulled away in surprise, breathing hard, and it occurred to her that ladies in this day and age probably weren't as 'forward' as she was. The thought made her pull him by the collar back to her lips, smiling at the astonished little gasp she kissed away.

His hand came up against her body and she relished the large hand on her hip then her stomach; trailing further up until it was on her chest, positioned over one of the swells.

Her eyes pressed closer together and she whimpered when he squeezed.

"Klaus," she whimpered into his mouth, her verbalisation growing higher and higher in pitch as he repeatedly brushed his thumb over her clothed nipple, alternating roughness.

She realised that she wanted his hand between her legs; his mouth if possible.

Like in her dream.

He pulled away a little, no doubt able to see the distinct lust in her darkened eyes as he observed her; the pucker of swollen rose lips.

She could see the question of the nickname she'd chosen for him in his eyes. She wouldn't be able to answer if he'd verbalised it. All she knew was that her body was on fire and he'd been kissing her and it had felt amazing.

Now she was still on fire as he stared at her, up close, and she stared back – right into his eyes, the familiar blue of them and his dark pink lips all she could see.

He stared until all question, all surprise, vanished from his face. What was left behind was utter awe.

It made her heart skip a beat.

 _Klaus._

He was looking at her like that again.

He didn't hate her anymore.

It wasn't clear who kissed who but seamlessly their mouths joined again and she drowned in the sensation of his lips and body pressed up against hers. His tongue slid into her mouth and she was suddenly thinking of _him_ inside her; pressing her naked chest to his.

The imagery made her whimper and she bit down on his lip when Klaus grabbed at her butt with both his hands. He groaned in pain as she moaned in pleasure.

They continued kissing and suddenly she found her feet lifting from the ground as he picked her up with his arms wrapped around her.

She wasn't far from the ground, held up between his body and the wall, but it felt so great to have him holding her like this. She drew away from the kiss for a quick second to look down at him. With her forehead pressed to his she began to laugh. The gesture was so adorably romantic that she felt giddy.

He grinned and kissed her again. She was still laughing against his mouth as she squeezed her eyes shut and kissed him hard, loping her arms around his neck.

It was when her fingers wrapped in his hair – his _long_ hair – when she paused, confused.

…Who was she kissing? This wasn't –

What was she _doing_?

She heard a door shut somewhere – close – and suddenly she was being gently let down, Past Klaus – _Past Klaus_ – laying a tender hand in her neck as he kissed her more softly, intimately melding his body to hers once more.

She felt him hesitate, realising that she wasn't kissing him back, but before he could draw away himself he was suddenly and violently jerked backward with so much force that he stumbled backward and almost fell.

Caroline's stomach sank as she followed the arm still attached to the human's collar.

"Klaus."


	33. Chapter 33

You reviewed, I update! :)

Also, to clarify, there aren't only three more chapters left. I was just busy writing the last 3 :) That being said, this story will be finished within the week... if I stick to my own deadlines lol.

* * *

He looked at her for a split second before moving his gaze back to his past self.

Niklaus looked at her for a moment too, having thought she said his name, before also looking at Klaus.

"Brother."

Klaus growled. "Go inside. Leave now or, _brother or not_ , I will kill you where you stand."

Terror gripped her body, time seeming to slow as she watched the stareoff between the two men; the two versions of the same man.

It was an eerie duplicate scene of the one in her dream but unlike then, in reality she felt no arousal at all. All she felt was fear for Past Klaus and a little sick to her stomach for what Klaus had just seen.

Past Klaus looked uncertainly at her, but also protectively, and she remembered his question from earlier tonight.

 _Has he ever been violent with you?_

So it pained her to say what she did.

"He's serious, he'll do it. Go."

He hesitated and Klaus dragged him closer, growling into his face.

"You should take the opportunity, mate, and feel incredibly fortunate that I have a vested interest in you living."

With that, he threw him away and it took a second for Niklaus to right himself before he began to retreat, shooting them both apprehensive looks.

For the first time she realised they were at the Mikaelson's house.

Her and Past Klaus had been making out just outside it like a pair of tweens. With Klaus inside, probably worried about where she was.

Past Klaus shot her one last look, one of promise, it seemed to her.

She understood. If she called out, he'd come back. Likely with backup. And he still wanted her to marry him, even moreso now that he'd seen proof of Klaus' violent side. But he wouldn't dare take Klaus on by himself, not after he'd watched Klaus duel and beat Mikael.

She nodded subtly and he held her eyes for another few seconds before disappearing inside the house.

Immediately she turned to Klaus. He'd been staring at her but now he quickly looked away.

"I'm sorry," she said right off the bat.

"For what?" he shrugged. He still wasn't looking at her. "You're free to do as you please. We aren't bound in any way."

She stood frozen for a second, taken aback by his cold tone and attitude.

Then she remembered that he'd very nearly just killed someone – _himself_ – for kissing her.

"Not just for now. For this morning."

He shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it."

He turned away, beginning to walk off.

"Klaus, please."

He hesitated and she grasped the opportunity, rushing to speak again.

"Doesn't any of this matter? How incredibly fucked up this entire situation is and everything that's happened between us the past few days? Doesn't any of it matter for anything? Don't I deserve _some_ slack?"

His posture went from cold and unyielding to uncertain, and she continued.

"I'm sorry that I've been a jerk but this hasn't exactly been easy for me. This entire situation is so freaking confusing and seriously weird."

He still didn't turn back around and she let out a breath.

 _"_ You said you weren't willing to forget what happened last night – why can you now?"

She wanted to tell him that what he'd just been witness to had been because of her feelings for him, that she was all mixed up with them both, but she wasn't sure, she really wasn't.

At the end, yes, she'd gotten all mixed up with the way Past Klaus had been looking at her and her body had taken over… but she'd kissed him back initially knowing exactly who he was.

She could see Klaus' reply; his accusation in the very way he stood – it wasn't that he'd forgotten them, he just couldn't forget what he'd just seen.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, I really am," she begged.

It didn't work. He began walking away again and was halfway to the front door when she sped up to him, pulling him by the hand to face her.

"God, please just say something!"

He looked down at her hand in his.

Not too differently from when they'd first gotten here and he'd taken her hand.

Then he met her eyes.

"I thought we were supposed to be in this together."

Stunned, she stood silent as he stared at her sadly, furiously, then pulled his hand back and entered the house, leaving her alone to deal with her heartbreak.


	34. Chapter 34

I almost completely forgot to put this up! I was right about to go to bed, busy closing everything on my laptop to shut it off, and then remembered. SO yeah, if you find any more mistakes it's because I did the last edit at superspeed at 1am. Soz.

Thanks so much for all the reviews! Love you guys. I know the last chapter was short so this one is longer.

Enjoy - this one has an interaction that has been missing from this story thus far. Lemme know what you think!

* * *

 _Marry me, not him._

 _I find it very difficult to believe you were ever anything less than what you are now; the paragon of perfection_

 _A man could do anything with you at his side_

 _You're beautiful_

 _You are magnificent_

 _You._

She hadn't seen them.

They were due to leave in a few hours and, while she'd spent the entire day looking for him, Klaus had once again been nowhere to be found. Past Klaus she'd deliberately avoided, not sure how to deal with or explain anything that had happened last night, from his proposal to Klaus' violence.

So, while she'd come up here to Klaus' hill initially to look for him, now she was just using the time to clear her head. He'd been right, it was the perfect spot for it.

With both men's words drifting though her mind, she looked out over the entire village.

Last night had finally properly drilled it into her – they were two separate men; people.

And she had to choose.

"Caroline," a voice said from behind her, the tone surprised.

She turned to see Kol.

He threw up his hands. "I was searching for Niklaus." He eyed her. "He comes here often."

"I didn't realise," she lied. "But he has not been up here, sorry."

He angled his body a little, ready to leave, but hesitated.

It took him a second before he clearly decided to stay.

He tucked his hands behind his back in a show of innocence she knew was non-existent as he approached where she sat cross-legged on the peak of the hill.

"You seem as if you have a lot on your mind."

"…And I'm trying to get rid of it, yeah."

He seemed pensive, looking out over the village.

"Has it been working?"

 _Did she love them?_

 _Which?_

"Nope," she laughed, feeling like she wanted to cry.

He looked over at her for a moment before lowering to sit beside her.

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance?"

She met his gaze hesitantly.

She'd had the bare minimum of dealings with Kol this far. All she knew about him was that he was a joker and trouble-maker and had been engaged eight times. Oh, and that in the future he would be Klaus' wingman in leering at her.

"Come on," he elbowed her lightly, winking playfully. "They are my brothers, after all."

Caroline found herself smiling.

The truth was she could use a talk with someone who wasn't romantically interested in her, didn't hate her – now or in the present – and could bring some levity to a conversation instead of angst and marriage proposals. Without her best friends or any support system whatsoever she felt completely at a loss.

Besides, it seemed like Kol already had a pretty good grasp of the situation.

"How did you know?"

"I have a nose for scandal," Kol grinned. "Also I have eyeballs and they tend to notice the way Niklaus' are always stuck to you."

She laughed but it quickly turned into a sigh.

"He kissed me last night."

Kol took this in.

"And you liked it."

Her head whipped to him and he shrugged.

"There would be no problem if you hated it. You would have slapped him and been on your way, not sulking on a hill."

"I'm not _sulking_ ," she scoffed, and he rolled his eyes. "…There's more."

"You also kissed Finn?"

"No!" she glared and he laughed. She cleared her throat. "K-William saw."

Kol's eyes rounded like saucers even as his lips turned up.

She gasped. "You're enjoying this!"

He let himself burst into laughter then held his hands up in defence when she glared daggers.

"That does not mean I do not have an appreciation for the gravity of your situation!"

She continued glaring for another few seconds before moving her gaze back to the view.

"Well I saw Niklaus walking around fine this morning, which means William is more tolerant than I."

She sighed. "It did actually get a little violent."

Kol was grinning, shaking his head, and she turned to him.

"What?"

"Nothing," he shrugged. "I just cannot believe the furore you have managed to cause in this family. My father hates you, Elijah detests you, Finn is not a fan and you have managed to make Niklaus fall so far in love with you that he would betray and come to blows with a new member of his family – whom he was initially ecstatic about, by the way."

She glared again, miffed with his assessment – which was unfair, in her opinion, because she hadn't done any of that on purpose – but he just shrugged.

She considered explaining why she felt she was pretty blameless in all those situations then thought better of it, sighing instead.

"That's not all."

He turned to her with amusement.

She fumbled with her thoughts, embarrassed to reveal the last bit of the puzzle after what he'd just said, and he rolled his eyes.

"Go on, beauty."

She bit at her lip. "Niklaus asked me to marry him instead of William."

Kol almost seemed to choke then his eyes rounded again in surprised realisation at the significance.

"…Not even my father could object, your blood is pure." He seemed to mull this over for a long moment before he looked at her interestedly. "Are you going to do it?"

 _Did she love them?_

 _Which?_

"No – I don't know. No."

He lifted a brow.

"I see why you needed the hill, now."

"I was actually looking for William," she found herself admitting. "But I think he's been avoiding me all day."

He let out a long breath. "I will be honest, that is a rough one, darling."

From the corner of her eye she shot him a look.

She couldn't believe it but she kind of liked him. And she was feeling really annoyed with herself for befriending all the dead Mikaelsons.

As if on cue, light footsteps came running toward them and they turned to see Henrik run up the hill.

"Did you find him, brother?"

"No," Kol shook his head. "I sense he may be out looking for one whose presence _we_ are graced with."

Henrik's gaze went to her and he grinned.

"Perhaps we should all go back then?"

Kol looked at her questioningly and she considered it for the quickest second before shaking her head. She wasn't ready yet.

"Why don't you come sit here," she suggested, tapping her lap, "and we can all look out together?"

Henrik seemed pleased with this idea and he bounced over to her to settle on her one leg. She loped her arms around him then laid her chin on his shoulder and looked out.

It was weird to think that in a few hours she would be a thousand years away from here.

The boys were completely silent and she gazed first at Henrik then Kol, already feeling nostalgia tug at her chest.

"I'm gonna miss you guys," she realised softly.

All the villagers, the strange clothes – _not_ the food, though – the strange friendship she'd forged with Rebekah, and Henrik's stone game. She'd miss this hill of quiet contemplation and being a part of Klaus' family, even if it was entirely insane.

Both boys turned to her in surprise.

"You are leaving?" Henrik asked, his face beginning to crumble.

She felt awful. As if telling Past Klaus hadn't been hard enough.

"Y-yeah." She cleared her throat. "I have a life and a family to get back to. William wanted to meet his true family and we have done that so now it is time to leave."

Henrik seemed to understand this but still didn't seem too happy about it.

Kol was looking at her pointedly and she met his gaze, knowing what he was wordlessly asking.

"No."

He frowned but she didn't change her answer. Instead an idea occurred to her.

"W-will you tell him? I just… can't."

Kol shot a look at Henrik, as if he wanted to say more, but then simply nodded.

Her heart clenched as she thought of Niklaus receiving her rejection from his brother instead of getting an answer straight from her. But she couldn't risk either him having more time to convince her or Klaus catching them together again.

"Will you visit?" Henrik suddenly asked.

Her heart sped. She wanted to so much. Even if it was only for him. She was pretty sure he was the only kid she'd ever really liked. But that was exactly why she couldn't lie either.

Still, how could she explain away not bothering to go to the trouble of making, what he thought to be, a very possible journey without offending him?

"I-I – "

"A promise that one cannot keep should never be made to a child," said a familiar firm voice from behind her.

They all turned to see Elijah standing there.

She was repressing the urge to roll her eyes when she saw someone else, standing a little behind him.

Klaus.

Her breath disappeared all at once, rendering her speechless.

He stepped forward, meeting her gaze, then looked down.

She suddenly became very aware of Henrik on her lap and the way Klaus was gauging the situation. There was a strange look of pleasant surprise in his eyes but it was gone in an instant and then his eyes moved away from her altogether.

She felt almost nauseous with the mess of emotions burning a pit into her stomach.

"Did somebody send out a memo that we were all meeting up here today, or….?" she asked, taking her new mood out on Elijah.

"A passerby saw you come up," the elder Original explained. "Which is fortunate, as we were searching for you. My mother has requested that you return home post haste in order to make good time on your journey."

"Oh." Her gaze moved to Klaus but he was still looking off, deliberately avoiding her. "Um, sure."

She began to shift so she could stand and immediately Henrik loped his arms around her neck, burying his head in her neck tightly for a quick second before climbing off her lap.

Her heart clenched painfully and it only became worse when he joined Klaus and they began walking off together.

Kol winked at her then stood.

Elijah held a hand out to her and she glared before pushing herself up off the ground without his help.

Kol laughed. "Come on, brother, the lady has a lot on her mind."

"Is that so?" Elijah wondered half-heartedly as they followed behind Klaus and Henrik.

Hesitating, Caroline shot one last look at the view.

A few hours. A few hours and this would all be exactly where it belonged: the past. Except for everything that had happened between her and Klaus – that would follow.

"Come on, darling!" she heard Kol call out. "Time to go home!"

It was. That was what she was afraid of.


	35. Chapter 35

I know I said this story would be finished by last week but ugh. Blame my immune system. In fact I will gladly join anyone who raises a revolution and pitchforks against my immune system. Err, when I'm better, anyway, heh.

Thank you thank you thank you for all the reviews! I always love hearing what you guys are thinking, I'm still so surprised by how many readers this story has lol.

P.S. I know you guys really want Klaus and Caroline to talk, but Klaus really really _really_ doesn't wanna talk to Caroline right now. If I put them in a locked room together he'd say nothing. He'd probably be breaking the door down. It's not my personal preference to keep them away from each other, Klaus is just in a real mood right now.

* * *

She froze by the front door.

The entire family was gathered in a sort of line, waiting to say their goodbyes. And at the end of it stood Niklaus, staring at her.

Now she realised she'd lagged far behind the four brothers because of this.

She could see in his eyes that Kol had already spoken to him. He looked bewildered and hurt; his gaze entreating.

But she dragged her eyes away. She'd made her choice.

Klaus was already at the end of the line, squatting in front of Henrik. She'd chosen not to listen in to their conversation but now she watched as they performed some kind of complicated hand movement. They both seemed to mess it up and burst into laughter before Henrik practically pummelled Klaus with a hug.

The hybrid was taken by surprise and he froze for a moment before she watched his eyes close as he savoured the last time he would get to be with his brother.

A hand landed on her arm and she looked up to see the eldest Mikaelson. Finn would be accompanying them, which she wasn't surprised about considering he was the only other person besides Esther who knew the truth about them, but that didn't make her any happier about it.

"Say your goodbyes. We should leave shortly."

Esther stood in the corner of the room watching the room's proceedings like a hawk. She'd already shrugged off Elijah's request that he go with them too and as a result Caroline was treated to Elijah Mikaelson sulking – because he was such a bundle of fun usually and all.

"Elijah," she stuck out her hand, "it was… interesting meeting you here."

He narrowed his eyes at first her hand then her words. He hesitated for a long moment before engaging in the handshake.

"I wish you safe travel on your journey."

She almost snorted. She was pretty sure he wouldn't mind if a _bus_ ran into her as soon as she left this house. Well, a donkey.

"Good luck with the whole Tatia thing, by the way," she smiled sneakily. "I totally don't see that ending awfully at all."

With his scowl she moved swiftly on to a grinning Rebekah.

"I seriously can't believe how much I like you," she smiled, reminding herself that there would be a Rebekah in the future so there was no need to get teary.

Still, from how heavy her heart felt, she could tell it knew better.

That Rebekah wasn't this one. She was sceptical and hated Caroline. This one was open; they'd shared a lot with each other.

"Likewise," she said. "Though that amount has decreased somewhat since you damaged something I hold very dear."

Caroline bit on her lip guiltily.

"I'm sorry. But I had to take care of my own first."

She tried for a smile but her features kind of collapsed instead and she turned with the full intention of moving on, but Rebekah quickly grabbed her into a hug.

Her eyes widened in surprise before she shut them tight.

"Take care of him for me," she whispered.

She felt Rebekah nod before she let her go and they exchanged small smiles.

"I wish you safe travel on your journey."

"Thanks."

She moved on.

"Kol," she smiled and he grinned back. "Thank you." The words were heavily laden and even in his naturally mischievous eyes she could see acknowledgement of the significance. "It was really awesome getting to know you some more."

"I would say the awe was at least partly shared, darling," he winked.

She laughed then hesitated before going in for a hug.

He enfolded her easily before whispering into her ear: "Never be too good."

She giggled and hugged him tighter before pulling back.

He winked and she blushed a little before all expression disappeared when she got to Mikael.

"Mikael. I can't say with a straight face that it's been fun. But knowing how much of a dick you are was definitely enlightening. I'll be sure to tell everyone back in my village what an unwelcoming ass you were."

He stepped forward with a growl and she heard Esther sigh.

"Mikael. Let it go."

He glared first at his wife then at her before storming out, muttering about them being gone when he came back.

"I plan on it," she muttered after him.

Caroline stood rooted to her spot, her head still turned to the front door where he'd disappeared from. Anything to keep from doing what she had to next.

Klaus passed her to say something to Kol but she was so nervous that she didn't even hear it.

They did a guy hug and she was watching Klaus savour this moment too when suddenly she felt a hand on her arm.

With a swallow she reluctantly turned to Niklaus.

"Caroline."

She still loved the way he said her name.

"I'm sorry," she said honestly. "This was never supposed to happen."

None of it was. Not coming into the past and meeting him or feeling what she had for him or even what she had for his double as a result of it.

"You should stay. At least until morning, it will be dark soon."

She looked up at him, into his pleading eyes, then down at his hand still on her. Carefully she laid her hand over it.

She knew everyone was probably watching them but for the moment she didn't care.

"I'm sorry but I'm leaving – right now."

She met his eyes again, watched him swallow and then nod in slow acceptance.

"Then I suppose I should wish you safe travel on your journey," he noted bitterly.

His voice kind of cracked in the middle of it and she found herself launching onto him, burying her face in his neck. Immediately she felt him ensconce her tightly in his arms.

"None of this was supposed to happen," she whispered into his ear, feeling her eyes tear up, "but I'm really glad I met you."

She began to pull away, blinking away the stray tears.

He let her go and she wiped up the few drops before leaning back in and placing a kiss to his cheek.

"Goodbye, Nik."


	36. Chapter 36

Guys, I'm feeling pretty awful and am super low on energy but I really wanted to get this out to you tonight so please forgive any errors I normally likely would've caught on the third edit I had to forgo.

Thank you for all the well wishes! It's crazy, my flu is gone and now I'm a whole different kind of sick. Please email about plans for the revolution against my immune system. Please and thank you. Also, enjoy :)

* * *

"Question: are you ever gonna look at me again?"

They'd been trudging along for an hour, the sky beginning to darken as they made their trek to the specific spot Esther needed to perform the spell from.

The witch was a few paces up ahead of them whilst Finn brought up the rear. Still, their positioning in the middle together hadn't counted for anything thus far. Klaus hadn't said a single word to her while concertedly avoiding all possible eye contact.

Now he turned to her, reluctantly meeting her gaze.

"Caroline…" Immediately his eyes jumped off her again, to his mother who had cast a glance back. He looked behind them at Finn and sighed. "I'd very much prefer not doing this now."

She bit down on her tongue. As much as she disliked his mom and eldest brother, she would have this conversation taped for live television if it meant they could just talk.

Still, she didn't want to pressure him into a situation he didn't feel comfortable in, so she stayed silent.

Finally Esther came to a standstill.

"This is it. The full moon hits here strongest. This is where I will perform the spell. Finn," the witch said and he nodded, moving forward to take her bag from her.

From it he began to pile out things and they all watched him for a few seconds before Esther looked at Klaus.

"I would like to have a private word with you."

Klaus seemed astonished then appalled.

"That's rather unfortunate then, isn't it, because I don't want to talk to you."

She folded her arms and Caroline watched her mentally sift through her range of trump cards.

"Then I suppose you will miss your window and have to locate another witch." She smirked, and again Caroline saw the family resemblance. "I believe Ayana has always found you particularly attractive, perhaps after enough… favours she will become magnanimous."

Caroline bristled as Klaus growled.

"Fine. Have your word, witch."

Esther looked pleased by her winning the strong-arm, though perhaps not so much by his address, the latter proven when she whacked him across the back of his head as they began walking away.

Finn smirked and Caroline couldn't help a small smile from starting on her own face at Klaus' resulting petulant scowl at his mother.

Guessing they were gonna be a while, Caroline lowered herself to the grass, thanking every star in existence for the invention of jeans. Seeing no reason not to, she'd changed back into her own clothes and never had she been so grateful for something as simple as pants.

Finn was still busy setting up for the spell and she glanced over at him.

"What do you think they're talking about?"

They'd gone too far for her to listen in on their conversation.

"Nothing that is of your concern," he replied gruffly.

"You know," she sighed, "there's a lot to be gained from treating people nicely. For example, I could've told you cool stuff about your future."

He looked up at her in visible shock before quickly pulling himself together.

"You know nothing about me."

"Hmmm, do you have a thing for redheads?"

Again his head popped up and she grinned, haughtily crossing one leg over the other as if she were tanning on a lounger. His expression quickly turned into a scowl.

"You speak of the future as if it is some sort of toy just because it has brought you here. You are like a child – no comprehension of repercussions."

"I know about the butterfly effect," she scoffed.

"You cannot go into the past and take its knowledge into the future without any ramifications," he continued to warn. "And they will never be what you think they may be."

His eyes were so serious that for a second she was struck silent. When she finally managed to open her mouth, Esther and Klaus were returning.

"Hold hands," she immediately instructed.

"Um," Caroline muttered inelegantly before clearing her throat.

Klaus shot her a look before coming to stand next to her. He held out a hand. She looked up to meet his eyes first but he was avoiding her gaze again and she sighed as she reached down to fold her hand into his.

It reminded her of last night and then before that, when his long painter's fingers had been inside her.

Again she cleared her throat, shifting.

"How long is this gonna take?"

Finn glared at her and Esther ignored her.

"Touch the medallion."

Klaus accepted his mother's instruction mutely, retrieving the round object from his pocket, and Esther nodded before beginning to chant.

Swallowing nervously, she looked at Klaus as she squeezed his hand, hoping to get some comfort out of it.

"What if this doesn't work?"

As much as she didn't want to leave, there was also suddenly something incredibly terrifying about being stuck here.

Finally Klaus looked at her, his eyes surprisingly tender.

He opened his mouth to speak but she blinked as a strange sensation occurred in her stomach. It felt like the ground was shifting and roiling beneath her feet.

She felt Klaus attempt to let go of her hand and in her confusion she held on for a few seconds but he pulled away and she looked around with a gasp.

"Oh my god." She surveyed the courtyard in front of Klaus' mansion. "We're back!"

"We are," he nodded.

Instantly the giddiness subsided.

There were a bunch of questions on her mind, mainly how long they'd been gone for and whether Bonnie was back yet or not, but the one she kept circling back to was What now?

She took a step closer to him and he didn't retreat but didn't look comfortable either.

"So, um… how about that conversation now?"

His breaths were long and deep as he stared straight back at her.

She could practically feel his gaze, like holes through her skin.

"I'm looking at you."

She blinked. "…And that's it?"

She was so aware of how close they were and even more aware of the way he was looking at her, his lips so close to hers that she felt sure he was going to kiss her.

"I trust you'll get home safe," he said instead, then backed away quickly and took the few steps up to his porch. "Good luck finding Bonnie," he offered diplomatically.

With that he entered his house, shutting the door behind him, leaving her out in the cold.


	37. Chapter 37

Hi, everyone! Merry Christmas, happy new year and happy Klaro-anniversary! Congratulations on making it through 4 years of tears, anti-shipper bullshit, the worst EP in the history of ever and all other trials and tribulations that come with having a flawless OTP. I didn't have time to run out to the store for cake so here, have a chapter :)

xx

* * *

~ Two weeks later ~

* * *

"Klaus?"

Tentatively she stepped inside, pushing the door open.

"Klaus?" she called out again.

She went further inside, tuning her hearing around the house. She was glad she had experience with entering Klaus' house uninvited because she'd probably feel pretty awkward otherwise.

Hearing a heartbeat in the living room, she headed there and immediately caught sight of the Original hybrid himself.

Maybe it was because he hadn't replied and thus she hadn't expected him to be here, but her breath caught as her gaze swept over him.

He was slow to look up from his sketchbook but held her eyes once he did.

"Hi," she said softly. He didn't say anything. "You didn't answer."

"I didn't want to be disturbed."

"Oh." She shifted, feeling awkward. "Um… should I leave?"

He seemed to size her up.

"Do you require my assistance with something?"

He looked so good.

His burgundy Henley had an extra low neck, his various necklaces swung across his chest and he was sprawled on the sofa with his legs spread.

"Um," she cleared her throat. "I thought we could talk."

"I don't have anything to say to you, Caroline."

Her heart sank.

It had taken every inch of her courage to come here after he'd been ignoring all her calls and texts for days and she supposed she'd assumed he may be a little more receptive if she came here in person.

"Right, yeah, of course. I got that." There was a fleeting look of regret in his eyes and she took it as an invitation to step closer. " _I_ wanted to talk. To you."

He hesitated, searching her face, before sighing again as he placed his sketchbook on a side table. He gestured towards the spot beside him on the sofa.

"Go ahead."

"Thanks," she smiled a little, letting out a breath of relief before sitting.

He hesitated for another quick moment before turning back to face her and mentally she withdrew a step. It had been two weeks without his presence and now they were less than an arm's length away from each other, his scent infiltrating her sanity. She couldn't let her attraction ruin things again.

"Bonnie's ok," she began, gathering her thoughts.

He nodded mutely.

There was a long moment of silence and she swallowed, debating whether she should still go through with this or not.

She wanted to, she really did, but not doing it would be so much easier.

"I've been thinking about us a lot," she began again as he stared straight at her. "And everything that happened. Everything you did; I did… _he_ did."

He looked away with an annoyed breath and she winced.

"I know you probably don't wanna hear me talking about him but it's kinda unavoidable… There are some things I never told you about, mostly because I didn't get the opportunity."

At this he looked back at her with a frown and she began to wonder whether he was ever going to say anything.

"I was thinking about staying."

His eyes grew so round that in any other situation she might have smiled at how comical it was.

"He actually asked me to marry him."

"He what?" he growled.

Without thinking she put a hand to his wrist and they both stared at it for a few seconds.

Then, remembering every time he'd had his hand curled around her wrist, she quickly pulled back as if she'd been burned.

"I want you to know that I considered it because of you. Not _you_ you, but…" she cut off, frustrated.

She'd never been particularly awesome at articulating her feelings. She'd always been the one between her friends to put her foot in it with normal everyday things.

Now she was trying to explain to a one thousand year old vampire the mix of emotions she'd felt regarding him and his human counterpart, something it had taken days to figure out for herself.

Taking a deep breath, she decided to start again.

"I hated it there." He smiled genuinely – it was a flash and then it was gone, but she took it as encouragement. "The food, _oh my god the food_ , the clothing, your awful parents…" Again he smiled a little. "I have never hated the past more. But I was really considering staying there, living my way back to the present, or whatever the hell I would've done, because of you."

He looked confused so she continued.

"I considered his proposal because of you – you you, um, _William you_. I wasn't sure that you'd ever forgive me, even once we came back here, and I thought about staying in that godawful time because… well, because I honestly couldn't stand the thought of living without you."

His eyes actually went wider than they had been earlier and he swallowed heavily.

"But you didn't stay."

"No. I didn't." She looked down at her lap, trying to put her thoughts into words. "You were wrong, you know." She looked back up. "You are the same person." He searched her eyes wildly. She could tell a protest was near but she continued: "You're different, yes, but that doesn't make you a different _person_. You're him with so many more layers and life and pain, but you're still him. And that's what I saw in him. I saw all the parts of you I wouldn't let myself fall for, without all the parts I'd always told myself I couldn't stomach."

"Caroline – "

"You said you had nothing to say, now please let me finish."

He blinked in surprise then nodded slowly and she drew a long breath.

"When we were together there you brought down those walls, but with him… I just forgot to put them up right from the start. He was all of the good without any of the bad, which was so tempting to me, you have to understand that. He was the guy I could metaphorically take home to meet my mom, not the guy who met my mom when he came by to save me from trying to _kill_ me."

Klaus' jaw clenched as he looked away.

"But it was three days."

Hesitantly his neck swivelled back, his eyes uncertain.

"I didn't _fall in love_ with him in three days, Klaus. It took me a while to understand that. But I only felt the way I did about him because of the way I already felt about you. And that's why I didn't stay – it felt wrong. Because if I'd stayed I wouldn't have been with the right guy, the one I love."

All his features slackened in shock.

She sympathised – she was in so much shock herself with all the honesty pouring out of her mouth that she was trembling everywhere.

"I love you." She smiled a little, nervously, her heart thumping almost painfully. "And I'm really hoping you love me too, if only because I'd feel like a giant idiot right now otherwise."

She kept smiling hopefully but he just kept staring.

And staring.

The smile slid off her face as he rearranged his features and his eyes grew distant.

Quickly she ducked her head so he wouldn't see her cry.

It was stupid because he could definitely see the way she was shaking, but she couldn't leave either because she didn't think she was capable of moving.

She wiped her face then looked back up.

He was staring off behind the couch, not looking at her. She felt stabs of pain in her stomach, so sharp she wanted to double over with how much it all hurt.

It had been a risk and she knew she'd hurt him but she'd hoped he would be able to forgive her.

It was clear that wasn't going to happen though. He'd known full well what he was doing when he'd ignored all her attempts to contact him and had only let her speak now because she'd already been inside his house.

It had finally actually happened. He was over her.

Biting down on her lip to counteract the pain, she slowly tried standing. She needed to get out.

Her legs seemed ready to buckle but through sheer willpower that came from her not wanting any more humiliation, she made it up.

She shot him one last look before making her way past him. He was still staring off, his expression unreadable.

She was about to pass him when she caught sight of the sketchbook on the table beside him and came to a surprised halt.

It was her.

She didn't recognise the moment – it seemed to be just a random second when he'd caught her smiling. She was in one of Rebekah's awful dresses and there was a blissful glint in her eye as she looked at a person not on the page. Even though she couldn't remember the moment, she knew it was him.

She was looking at the person like she loved them.

It only brought fresh tears tumbling down her cheeks and she wiped them away quickly too.

She took one last look at the sketch before beginning to move again, ready to leave.

But fingers wrapped around her wrist, stopping her.


	38. Chapter 38

Hey guys! First off, I want to thank you for all the amazing reviews on the last chapter. It quite possibly may have been the most reviews a chapter of this story has gotten and everything was such great feedback, it really made me thrilled and excited to work on this chapter. Sorrryyy to those hating me for ending that chapter there/not putting this one up after/the cliffhanger - unfortunately I literally wasn't done with this chapter yet so I couldn't exactly post it.

This is officially the last chapter of this story so I really wanted to thank you guys for going on this ride with me, not calling out the gaps in my knowledge of history and showing me so much love (especially in regards to all my sicknesses, good grief I've been sick a lot recently).

This doesn't tie up _all_ ends but I think it does do a pretty ok job of it - really though, I'd recommend watching The 100 if you haven't yet so that you can read the sequel. And if you already have, I'll see you over there because it's coming really really soon!

Love you like I love Bellamy and Klaus' bickering

xx

* * *

"Wait."

Her breath caught in her chest and she gasped for oxygen before looking down at his hand on her.

More tears fell.

"Why?"

She was about to turn to meet his eyes when all of a sudden he tugged and she found herself sprawling onto him.

He caught her, his hands going to her neck as he kissed her.

Her eyes closed and she melted into him, surprised by the tender intimacy of the kiss. Quickly she engaged, wrapping her hands in his short locks as she kissed him back, moving closer as she settled on his lap more comfortably.

Then all at once she pulled away. He blinked but she glared.

"You had me worried for quite a while there."

"Apologies, love." He looked sheepish. "Forgiving and forgetting isn't a specialty of mine."

"Really?" she pulled a face. "You could've fooled me."

He smiled and she laughed as he pulled her closer again. Her eyes fluttered closed as their lips touched again and she sighed, feeling content. The sensation was almost alien considering how stressed out she'd been for the past two weeks.

Her mind quickly wandered away from that though, her eyes pressing tighter as he kissed her harder and she wrapped herself around him. Klaus groaned under his breath before flipping them over, laying himself between her legs with her head on the armrest.

Her hands buried in his hair as she pulled him closer, whimpering as he sucked on her bottom lip.

"Klaus?"

He hesitated before pulling away with a frown.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just… I think maybe we should take things slow. Speeding into this is a part of what got us into trouble the last time."

He watched her for a long moment before nodding.

"If that's what you want."

She grinned before moving forward to kiss him tenderly.

He smiled too, placing his hands in her hair and on her hip before the kiss quickly turned more serious.

She roped her fingers through his hair and pulled him closer, letting her body cradle his.

For a long while they stayed like that, letting their tongues explore each other's mouths as their hands curiously explored their clothed bodies. She moaned when his hands cupped her breasts, instantly feeling her nipples harden to little peaks.

Trying and failing not to think about the last time his hands had been on her bare skin, she moved her kisses to his jaw, relishing in his prickly stubble against her lips.

Then she pulled away, her hands immediately going to the hem of her top. With one swift movement she pulled it up and over her head and Klaus regarded her with surprise.

She quirked up a daring eyebrow and Klaus smiled slyly before ducking his head against her chest, kissing his way down to her cleavage.

"I thought we were going slow?"

She laughed. "Well, we're vampires. Slow at vampire speed is much faster." He laughed at this and she grinned, liking the way the vibrations of his body felt pressed up against her. "And besides, trust me, this is really slow for me."

"Hmmm," he hummed in acknowledgement, moving his hands to explore her newly bare skin.

He touched the lines of her ivory bra then dragged his thumbs over her stomach, savouring the haptic experience; his fingers rough against her smooth skin.

Still his hands went lower and she felt his smirk between her breasts.

"In that case…"

She giggled when he reached the buttons on her jeans.

"I like the way you think."

Undoing the buttons, he pressed kisses to the curves of her breasts and she lifted her hips, already feeling heady. It only got worse when he pulled her jeans down slowly, using the opportunity to map her legs with his hands.

She kicked them off and he drew back to meet her eyes. She tugged on her lip for a quick second before pushing forward to kiss him again.

He engaged enthusiastically as his hands continued to explore her body. Her breath dropped out when he moved between her thighs but it was a fleeting touch before he moved on to her waist then up to her breasts.

She made a little sound of surprised pleasure when his thumbs traced circles over her nipples and they hardened even further. In response her hand darted down to his pants and she immediately began to undo his buckle.

Klaus seemed to hesitate then pulled away from the kiss.

"Before we continue to vampire speed through going slow," he started, and she grinned, "…are you sure this is what you want?"

His eyes were open and genuine and Caroline swallowed, knowing what he was asking. This wasn't about the sex. That was easy to do and be done with. This was about them.

"What I want is you," she breathed. "And I am a bazillion percent sure of that."

He stared at her for a few seconds, maybe waiting for her to change her mind, but she stuck out her hand.

"Come on."

He frowned. "Where are we going?"

Wiggling out from under him, she stood.

"Where do you _think_ we're going?"

Noting her sultry smile, he stood quickly and she grinned as he took her hand.

Taking his hand between both of hers, she turned her back to him before beginning to lead him toward the staircase, deliberately swaying her hips.

"This is a fantastic view," he commented lustfully.

"Really?"

They were halfway up the stairs and she bit on her lip, knowing the idea that had just popped into her mind was totally naughty.

Still, as Klaus hummed affirmation, she couldn't help it.

Releasing his hand, she continued her way up the steps but moved her hands up to her back.

They were almost to the top of the staircase when the clip on her bra unhooked and with one quick motion she pulled the rest of it off her. She heard Klaus' breath catch as she dropped her bra on the stairs.

As he grabbed for her she skipped away, giggling when she heard him growl as she sped into his bedroom.

She didn't even have a second to glance around before he caught her and spun her to him, pressing his lips to hers so hard he kissed her laugh and her breath away.

"You're wily," he said against her mouth.

She smiled. "Is that all I am?"

He pulled her flush against him and she drew a sharp breath at the sensation of her puckered nipples rubbing against his rough Henley.

"Oh, sweetheart, you're many things." His hands came up along her sides as he began placing kisses on her shoulder. "Right now – an incredible temptation."

Her eyes shut as his hands cupped her breasts, explorative at first then more firmly beginning to knead them, and she bit at her lip to stay quiet.

"Magnificent," he whispered into her ear, his breath warm, and she broke, whimpering. "Flawless."

Pulling together every shred of courage, she drew away from him.

He frowned, reluctantly letting her go, before realising she was backing up nearer to his bed.

Taking her lead, he began to kick off his shoes and she smirked before sitting down on the edge of his bed, sinking into the thick duvet cover.

She kicked off her heels before curling in a finger, gesturing for him to come closer.

He smirked and obliged and she immediately went for his buckle, undoing it in record time, followed closely by his jeans.

She looked up at him pointedly and he grinned before lifting his Henley up over his head and tossing it down with his jeans.

Gratefully she examined the lines of his body, feeling her entire body beginning to warm even further.

She smiled when she noticed the tattoo on his left shoulder.

"I get the thing about bird tattoos now."

Smiling too, he nodded then leaned forward.

Taking both of her wrists into his hands, he pushed her backwards till she was lying down on the bed and she found her breathing shallowing again as she met his eyes directly.

He was staring at her.

"What?" she asked, blushing.

"I'm just thinking about that massage I promised you."

It took her a second before she remembered and then her blush only rose higher.

"Oh my god!"

He chuckled then kissed her and she happily engaged but soon he was moving his kisses downward, between her breasts and over her stomach. Her hips lifted of their own accord as his lips brushed over her pelvic bone and he was hooking his thumbs in her underwear when she let out a rush of air.

"Wait."

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking up, concerned.

She studied him for a moment before shaking her head.

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong. Just… come here for a second."

He looked confused but obligingly moved back up, meeting her eyes.

"I need a little bit more slow," she admitted. "And… I wanna look at you."

He grinned wolfishly. "That's understandable, I'm very good-looking."

She laughed, rolling her eyes, before becoming serious again.

"Remember when you said you didn't want me to think of you any differently because of your past?"

"Was that the conversation before the massage conversation?" he teased, smirking.

"I'll take that as a yes," she rolled her eyes again before her features softened. "…I need to tell you that I couldn't help it, I did – I _do_. I look at you differently now, but that's a good thing." She drew a breath. "Because of him, I know you better. And, despite everything else that happened, I'm really glad about that."

He looked at her for a few moments, his expression also serious, before he nodded slowly, tenderly laying some hair behind her ear.

"So long as he's not who you see when you look at me."

"No," Caroline shook her head, encompassing his face with her hands. "It's you," she said softly, passing a hand over his stubble. "You're the only one I want."

He broke into a smile so unexpectedly sincere that she could tell it had taken even him by surprise and he quickly wiped it away.

With an answering smile on her own face she placed her thumbs where his dimples had been as they stared at each other, understanding passing between them.

What had happened was in the past, literally. _They_ were here; now.

She'd chosen him.

All at once he was kissing her and she squealed in delighted surprise before twisting them over, relishing in his hands tangling in her hair as their tongues battled. She was working on the waistband of his boxer briefs when he twisted them back over and she giggled.

He smirked as his kisses moved downward again, delightedly taking in her moan as he drew a breast into his mouth.

With a short breath she finished pushing his underwear down and immediately pulled him flush against her, suppressing a whimper at how big and hard he was. He groaned and her back arched at the sensation against her breast.

"Klaus," she murmured, her eyes fluttering closed as he sucked roughly on her nipple.

She let her nails scratch down his back, enjoying the muscular curvature of his body. Smiling wryly, she remembered the Klaus she'd dreamt of. It was crazy but he was actually turning out to be nothing in comparison to the real thing.

His mouth moved to her other breast and she moaned, digging her fingers in before twisting them over again.

Breathily she sank down onto him and he groaned, his head dropping back. She put her mouth to his revealed throat, licking and sucking her way to his neck where she nipped. He dug his fingers into her thighs and she began to pick up speed, loving the little growls that emanated from his throat as her breasts bounced.

The tension between her legs kept growing and growing, her chest heaving.

All of a sudden Klaus switched their positions and she gratefully pulled him closer as he thrust deeper inside her, drawing her leg up over his shoulder.

"Caroline," he murmured, ducking into her neck.

"Oh god, I'm so close," she moaned.

His hips had found an addictive rhythm and she buried her fingers in his hair as she rose up to meet him thrust for thrust.

"Yes, Klaus, please," she said haphazardly, barely knowing what she was saying as she teetered on the edge.

He seemed to respond to her words, his hand going down to find her clit, and just like that she fell. Her orgasm split her open and she screamed, feeling hot and cold everywhere as her toes curled and her body stiffened.

Klaus kissed her as he came too and they moaned into each other's mouths, riding out the incredible wave together.

After the last shock left her system she fell back, mesmerised.

"That was perfect," she breathed.

"You're perfect," he murmured, laying a tender kiss between her breasts.

She smiled before tugging on his hair and he obligingly met her eyes before kissing her, long and deep, and she didn't stop smiling the whole time.

For the first time in two weeks she was happy again, so happy she thought her heart might burst. She still couldn't quite believe that after everything that had happened they'd managed to end up here.

"What?" he asked curiously, pulling away.

Her smile was lazy and her dimples deep as she regarded him.

"I was just thinking that we're meant to be."

He caressed her face. "Of course we are."

That made her grin ridiculously and he smiled too.

Suddenly something occurred to her.

"Klaus… I'm sorry you didn't get to meet your real dad."

The smile flickered then disappeared but he nodded slowly.

"Me too. However, I _did_ get to spend time with my brothers, which I never would've gotten to, otherwise. And, thanks to you, I showed Mikael up and better yet, I had the opportunity to stand up to him."

She touched his face, caressing his temple then down over his cheek and onto his stubble.

"Do you feel like you got closure?" she wondered.

He stared at her for a long while before letting out a breath.

"I got what I needed."

She smiled again then leaned forward to lay a quick kiss on his lips that left him smiling too.

"You know, since nothing about our lives changed, I guess I was right the first time about it being alternate timeline time travel."

"I suppose you were," he agreed.

"Don't you think it's interesting that somewhere out there there's a universe where your family thinks you have a twin brother who is totally badass and doesn't take any shit from Mikael?" she asked. "A universe where you're totally over Tatia and we kissed one thousand years ago?"

He was quiet for a long moment, thinking this over.

"What about you?" he asked eventually.

"Me?" She thought about it. "Well, maybe in that universe I decided to stay."

She grinned teasingly and he narrowed his eyes.

"You better not have," he said, and she laughed as he kissed her.


	39. Chapter 39

Hey, guys! First of all, I'm sorry if you're reading this for like the fourth time or something, I don't have much time these days so I was forced to create a blanket announcement. Secondly, if this is a completed story, I'm sorry for giving you false hope about another chapter! Thirdly: I DESIGNED A KLAROLINE SHIRT! It's up on Teespring and it would really mean a lot to me if you guys would take a look to see if you're interested. Long story short, it's my birthday soon (on the 21st) and also my laptop is in the hospice stage of its life and so I'd really like to be able to gather the funds to contribute to buying myself a new one. If you could help me with that, it would mean the world to me. You can check it out on my tumblr (it's the most recent post), which is mrslackles (so mrslackles dot tumblr dot com) or search for it on Teespring (it's the only Klaroline item, can y'all believe that?!). And if you can't buy, maybe a reblog?

Thank you and sorry for any disappointment caused!


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